Learning French language

Originally Posted by Emiliiiie

Means "Gros bisous"

Emilie, merci beaucoup :-)

Originally Posted by Lyssa

Allright^^ But it can be easier with passé simple because you don't have to choose between "être" and "avoir" lol

Lyssa, you are right. But passe simple is used only for the past separated (or divorced, as someone expressed) from the speaker's present, as I understand.
That's why you don't use it with 1st or 2nd person subjects, isn't it? I doubt you use it with 1st or 2nd pesron singular subjects. And here I have a question:
do you use 'il y a dix ans', 'voice trois ans', or 'ca fais cinq ans' in the sentence in passe simple?
I cannot find good books explaining about it in Japan.

Well, I'm not sure to understand your point, but you sure can use passé simple with 1st or 2nd person subjects!
Actually, it's difficult to explain when to use passé simple or passé composé, as I do it without thinking about it xD
With "il y a dix ans", I'd use imparfait => Il y a dix ans j'étais....
With "voici trois ans" it depends on what you want to say after, but I'd use present tense => "Voici trois ans que j'attends" (meaning you have been waiting for 3 years now)
With "ça fait cinq ans" it's the same as with "voici trois ans", both imply something that begun in the past ans lasts until today, so you have to use the present tense

Now for passé simple, it's mostly used in books, for the narration of essential events or when there is a dialogue, like : Mr D. dit "...."; puis Mme F. répondit "...." [ dire has the same ending for present tense or passé simple so maybe one doesn't notice ]

I hope this is clear

Hi everyone, currently I'm interested in learning french since well it's a beautiful language and it's very useful in the professional life.

What I want is some recommendations from you guys of how to learn in the autodidact way (the same way I learn english) so if you could recommend me some online courses or textbooks I would really appreciate it

Hi
Try this website : http://www.francaisfacile.com/
You have exercices, games, lessons etc ... very good website
You can also practice exchange with french people. And it's free

Here are some more sites for French learners:

About.com -> french.about.com/
(free lessons in newsletters, grammar, quizzes....)

Learn French -> learn-french-grammar

BBC -> bbc.co.uk/languages/french

Almost all online dictionaries are excellent places for learning:
The Free Dictionary -> fr.thefreedictionary.com

and of course WordReferene -> wordreference.com
(their Verb conjugation is a great learning tool!)

Hope these help

Originally Posted by Second life

Here are some more sites for French learners:

About.com -> french.about.com/
(free lessons in newsletters, grammar, quizzes....)

Learn French -> learn-french-grammar

BBC -> bbc.co.uk/languages/french

Almost all online dictionaries are excellent places for learning:
The Free Dictionary -> fr.thefreedictionary.com

and of course WordReferene -> wordreference.com
(their Verb conjugation is a great learning tool!)

Hope these help

merci beaucoup

While trying to give an answer to Pinky_girl in French, I googled something about French grammar and I found another site for learning French - in French. I guess it's then for advance learners. So, I'll add this link too.

Québec

and

reverso

merci encore!!

The use of subjunctive mood

This is a small explanation on the use of the subjunctive mood in French. Maybe it looks heavy or boring but the purpose is to help you whenever you wonder about the second dilemma of all time (after « to be or not to be »): « subjunctive or not subjunctive » . (There is no doubt that if William Shakespeare had been French he would have written a whole tragedy about it!)


Mainly, I see 3 cases in which you should use the subjunctive mood:


1) Subjunctive is used to express a planning or an hypothetical action, a doubt, a feeling, a wish, a desire, an order, an expectation, for you can't be sure whether it will (or has) occur(ed) or not.

It's always used after avoir peur (to fear), douter (to doubt), aimer (to like), vouloir/avoir envie (to want), préférer (to prefer), souhaiter (to wish), attendre (to expect), demander (to ask), falloir (to need/must), refuser (to refuse)... followed by « que/qu' ».

Example:
Elle est à l'heure. She is right on time. (present indicative of être)
J'aime qu'elle soit à l'heure. I like her being on time. (present subjunctive of être)

2) Some verbs at the negative form are frequently followed with a subjunctive: penser (to think), croire (to believe), supposer (to assume), comprendre (to understand), expliquer (to explain)... followed by « que/qu' ». It's optional but very frequent.

Example:
Je crois qu'il est malade. I think he's sick. (croire at the positive form - present indicative of être)
Je ne crois pas qu'il est malade. I don't think he's sick. (croire at the negative form - present indicative of être)
ou bien
Je ne crois pas qu'il soit malade (more frequent). (croire at the negative form - present subjunctive of être)

3) Some conjunctions are necessarily followed by subjunctive:

afin que (so as to), pour que (in order to), sans que (without + subordinate clause), avant que (before + sub), jusqu’à ce que (until), à moins que (unless), de peur/crainte que (for fear that/fearing that), bien que (although/even though)...

Example:
Je vous l'expliquerai jusqu'à ce que vous compreniez (present subjunctive of comprendre). I'll explain it to you until you understand. (Put that way, it sounds a little sadistic.. )

Bonjour mes amis, I translated a song from Persian to French but I don't know whether my translation is correct or not? and doest it make sense at all?? I would be glad if you check out this translation and correct my grammatical errors....

Une femme (une chanson pour la mère):

Vous allumez le soleil tous les jours


Vous allez dans la peau de la lune chaque nuit


Tenez mes mains, fermement, pour que je ne tombe pas


Le sol tremble quand vous marchez


Mon cœur se réchauffe avec votre sourire


Dans les jours que le monde est froid


Je vous sens, je le comprends:

Une femme peut être un homme parfois


Je n'ai pas peur de vieillir


Je n'ai pas peur) de la vie qui va sans arrêt)


Toutes les heaures abandonneront


À côté de vous le temps passe à la renverse


Une photo d'un monde forme dans vos yeux


Dans les beaux yeaux vitreux


Faites attention! ne fermez pas vos paupières


Je vais d'être distrait par un clin d'oeil

Whoa your French is very good! And grammatically it's almost perfect.

For the sense the changes that I propose shouldn't change too much the sense compared to the original Persian song.


Une femme (une chanson pour la mère): → (une chanson pour une mère)
just not to mix up with la mer = the sea.

Vous allumez le soleil tous les jours

Vous allez dans la peau de la lune chaque nuit → Vous vous glissez dans la peau
se glisser = to slip into

Tenez mes mains, fermement, pour que je ne tombe pas

Le sol tremble quand vous marchez → Le sol vibre/frémit quand vous marchez
Here the verb « trembler » gives it a physical sense, like an Earth quake, or something heavy falling on the ground. If more delicately or more figuratively you can use « vibrer » (to quiver) or « frémir » (to shiver).

Mon cœur se réchauffe avec votre sourire

Dans les jours que le monde est froid → ⌀ Les jours où le monde est froid
As « le monde est froid » is an adverbial phrase of time, you need to use the relative pronoun où.

Je vous sens, je le comprends:

Une femme peut être un homme parfois

Je n'ai pas peur de vieillir

Je n'ai pas peur) de la vie qui va sans arrêt) → la vie qui va sans s'arrêter
(more elegant in this case). Sans arrêt is sth repetitive, sans s'arrêter is about sth continuous.

Toutes les heaures abandonneront
heures. But abandonner = to give up sth or to abandon sb. What do you want to say?

À côté de vous le temps passe à la renverse → À vos côtés le temps s'écoule à l'envers/s'écoule en sens contraire
À côté de vous is more used to situate someone in a specific place (to someone's left or right hand). If you mean near to someone, whether it's in the place or in the time, you can say « à vos côtés » or « auprès de vous ». But it's a very small detail

Une photo d'un monde forme dans vos yeux → La photo d'un monde

Dans les beaux yeaux vitreux
yeux

Faites attention! ne fermez pas vos paupières

Je vais d'être distrait par un clin d'oeil → Je vais être distrait par un clin d'oeil
aller + verb = to be going to + verb

I hope it'll help, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Woooooooooooooooooooow that was so quick and so helpful.....I feel that with the corrections you did, the translation looks more elegant than before...Merci mille fois...and on the other hand I learned some good points I didn't know
But about this sentence "Toutes les heaures abandonneront ", If I want to clarify it, I wanted to say that " the hours surrender or give in ( even in the Persian lyric I don't know what the poet meant by saying this sentence but i guess he meant ' the hours give up passing/moving or something like that)

I have another question too if it's ok : if I want to add "de" in this sentence "Faites attention! ne fermez pas vos paupières" it would be like :
Faites attention de ne fermer? or fermez? pas vos paupiere.......
thank you again dear Enoo

You're welcome dear Pinky Girl! I'm very glad to help you!! And of course you can ask any question you have.

Oh okay I see what you mean: in French you could say:
- Les heures cessent de tourner
- Les heures cessent leur cours
- Le cours des heures cesse
- Les heures s'arrêtent...
I let you pick up the one you prefer

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

I have another question too if it's ok : if I want to add "de" in this sentence "Faites attention! ne fermez pas vos paupières" it would be like :
Faites attention de ne fermer? or fermez? pas vos paupiere.......

In this case ne and pas come one after the other:
Faites attention, ne fermez pas vos paupières → Faites attention de ne pas fermer vos paupières. (infinitive )

Another example:
Je vous en prie, ne partez pas (Please, don't go) → Je vous prie de ne pas partir.

And I forgot this little thing:
La photo d'un monde forme dans vos yeux → La photo d'un monde se forme dans vos yeux
The pronominal form (se) replace a passive form because "the picture of a world" isn't the subject of this sentence, but the object (it is formed in her eyes).

I hope my explanations are clear.

Oh that was absolutely clear dear friend...thank you so very much...
I'll be right back with more questions soon

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

But about this sentence "Toutes les heaures abandonneront ", If I want to clarify it, I wanted to say that " the hours surrender or give in ( even in the Persian lyric I don't know what the poet meant by saying this sentence but i guess he meant ' the hours give up passing/moving or something like that)

Originally Posted by Enoo

Oh okay I see what you mean: in French you could say:
- Les heures cessent de tourner
- Les heures cessent leur cours
- Le cours des heures cesse
- Les heures s'arrêtent...

it would be "more French" if you substitute "heures" by "temps" (hours by time), because a well known French expression is :
"Le temps s'arrête." and it means what you wanted it to mean.

Moreover, you can't really say "Les heures cessent de tourner" in French. People would understand but it sounds weird. but you can say :
"Les aiguilles cessent de tourner." (aiguilles means clock hands)

hope this help. and I'm not claiming Enoo was wrong, there is no offense, his french is very good, I'm sure you're a native French right?
I just wanted to clarify this.

Merci pour votre aide both of you are amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....thanks again

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

Merci pour votre aide both of you are amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....thanks again

It's a pleasure to help you, my dear! Anytime!

Originally Posted by WannaBFluent

hope this help. and I'm not claiming Enoo was wrong, there is no offense, his french is very good, I'm sure you're a native French right?
I just wanted to clarify this.

It's okay, two opinions are always better than one and what you've said is perfectly accurate. But I must admit it is the first time I get compliments on my French! Because I'm a native French indeed.

oh, you're English isn't bad as well. better than mine for sure!
i'm currently learning turkish and arabic, and i'd like to speak fluently a lot of languages in the future (i hope) like romanian, russian, german, swahili, somaali, urdu, tamil, hindi, etc etc. i'm really interested in all languages, it's like a hobbit i don't know lol. but you feel so great when you can speak with someone in his native language.. amazing feeling, right?

How about we strike a deal wannaBfluent - teach me french and I'll teach you arabic. I cant say I'm with you on all those languages but turkish is definitely in my to do list too.

Lool Enoo I think you should pass yourself as a foreigner and have everyone else awwing at your cute French