Learning French language

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

Oh that would be so awesome if you write some examples for those expressions

How can I have forgotten about it? soooorry here are some examples, I hope they can be helpful.


avoir la main verte

Isabelle a un jardin très réussi. Elle a vraiment la main verte !
Isabelle has got a very nice garden. She's really gifted for gardening!

être vert

Je suis verte, j'ai raté mon train de deux minutes.
I'm so disappointed, I missed my train for two minutes.

en voir des vertes et des pas mûres

When a person/an organization/etc says or does something hard to believe, something inappropriate, sth you would not expect her/him/it to say or do. For example, in a time of crisis, an elected representative talks about spending money in decorating with flowers (okay flowers are important, but it's not the most important thing you'd expect him to do ). You can say about this person: « avec lui, on en voit des vertes et des pas mûres ! » or « il nous en fait voir des vertes et des pas mûres ! »

broyer du noir

broyer = to grind so the idea is that when you feel blue, your brain only finds dark thoughts to stir.
« Arrête de broyer du noir et viens boire un verre avec nous »
« Stop having gloomy ideas and come have a drink with us »

être la bête noire de qqn - Avoir une peur bleue

« Jamais tu ne me feras tenir une araignée, c'est ma bête noire ! En plus j'en ai une peur bleue ! »
« You'll never make me hold a spider, it's my pet peeve ! Plus I'm terribly scared of them! »
(it's not true but it's only for the example ^^)

Voir rouge

Il a vu rouge quand il a appris que ce n'était pas possible.
He became very angry when he learnt that it wasn't possible.

Faire/passer une nuit blanche

J'ai bu tellement de café que j'ai passé une nuit blanche.
I've drunk so much coffee that I had a sleepless night.

Faire chou blanc

J'espérais trouver des renseignements à la bibiothèque, mais j'ai fait chou blanc.
I hoped i could find some information at the library, but I was unsuccessful.

Se faire des cheveux blancs

Elle se fait des cheveux blancs parce que son fils n'est pas encore rentré.
She's very worried because her son hasn't come back home yet.

Montrer patte blanche

Il faut montrer patte blanche si tu veux entrer à son concert privé
You have to « show a white paw » if you want to enter his private concert (oh yeah! )
(= you don't enter this concert easily and you have first to prove who you are)

Rire jaune
For example you give somebody a piece of advice, and he/she doesn't take it seriously, saying he/she's stronger then that and doesn't need your advice. And later, he/she comes back a little embittered because you were right. This bitter feeling, we call it « rire jaune » (lit. « to laugh yellow »)

Il rira jaune quand il verra que j'avais raison
He'll give a forced laugh when he sees I was right

Awwwwwwwwwwwww merci beaucoup cher Enoo, maintenant c'est plus facile à memoriser

Alors, c'est l'heure d'aider votre amie une autre chanson a besoin de votre aide

Ta place vide :

Ces jours-ci je perds mon chemin

Quand je marche sans toi


Quand je sens ta place vide


Je dérange le monde entier


Partout où je vais ces jours-ci

Je m'assois seul avec moi


Quand je sens ta place vide


Je vois tout le monde comme toi


Mon amour! Le bon parfum de toi


Sous la pluie , ton parapluie

Est encore dans ma mémoire


Mon amour


Ton départ triste


Ta dernière image


Est encore dans ma mémoire


Oh mon amour


J'ai arrangé de nouveau toutes tes photos dans ma chambre


J'ai reculé l'horloge pour être avec toi

Viens deveins folle encore une fois


Viens vis avec moi à côté de tes souvenirs


Viens deveins folle

Waouuuuh c'est du très bon travail mon amie!!! Félicitations, c'est presque parfait!!

I see only two little grammatical things to correct:
"Ton départ triste, ta dernière image sont encore dans ma mémoire"
"Viens, deviens folle encore une fois"

After that, it's only a matter of style, let's see that

Ta place vide :

Ces jours-ci je perds mon chemin
It's perfectly correct. We also say: "je ne retrouve plus mon chemin"

Quand je sens ta place vide
"place" has a concrete meaning, if he is looking at her empty seat he can say "ta place est vide" (in the title it works for example) but as here it seems more abstract to me and he seems to be describing her absence, you could use:

- quand je sens ton absence
- quand je sens le vide que tu as laissé (when I feel the emptiness that you let (in his heart for example)) --- this one's stronger and closer to the original sentence

Je dérange le monde entier
"déranger" means "to annoy somebody". I'm not sure of the sense. What did you wanna say? ^^

Je m'assois seul avec moi
avec moi-même

Je vois tout le monde comme toi
Perfectly correct. We also say this: "je crois voir ton visage partout" (I think I'm seeing your face everywhere)

Mon amour! Le bon parfum de toi
Ton bon/beau parfum

Sous la pluie , ton parapluie

Est encore dans ma mémoire

----> so beautiful!

Ta dernière image
La dernière image/vision de toi (1)

J'ai arrangé de nouveau toutes tes photos dans ma chambre
les photos de toi(1)
(1) It's very subtle and I'm not even sure that my explanation is always valid
But in this context: "toutes tes photos" = all the pictures that you took // "toutes les photos de toi" = all the pictures on which you are

J'ai reculé l'horloge pour être avec toi ----> sooooo perfect!

Viens deveins folle encore une fois
Viens, laisse-toi aller à la folie encore une fois
"fou/folle" is very concrete, it means "out of your mind/insane/mad/wild" we rather use the name "folie" (madness/craziness) to describe a situation in which you let your rational thoughts aside: "aimer à la folie" means for example "to be crazy about someone". "Être fou de qqn" exists and has almost the same meaning, but "devenir fou" means "to become insane/mad/wild".

Viens vis avec moi à côté de tes souvenirs
I would say rather "auprès de tes souvenirs" but it's really a detail


Once again you did a very good job dooste azizam!!! Keep it up!

Also when I write things like "we also say", it really doesn't mean that what you did is not good, it's to give you more possibilities, as you're in the best position to understand the original lyrics, but might have been restrained when translating because it's pretty hard to guess about idioms if you haven't seen them before. ^^

Oh Woooooooooooo00000000000000w,I love your corrections,you understand the meaning of the song very well so the words you choose is just amaziiiiiiiiiiing...meric merci infiniment<3<3<3

in this sentence "Je dérange le monde entier" I meant "I mess up the whole world/I disarrange the whole world"
Oh that's really interesting,I didn't know how different "toutes tes photos and les photos de toi" they areI though they have the same meaningI realized that I should be really careful cause ignoring some details can lead to a huge mistake

Oh I'm so happy that this sentence"J'ai reculé l'horloge pour être avec toi " is correct...I wrote this one with fear and I was sure that it was gonna be one of the biggest mistake in my translation Thank God I was wrong

I also like "we also say" part better , cause I feel it can show the meaning better
Many Thanks To you dear friend<3<3

Link for listening this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX09YwvCsvg

Khahesh mikonam Pinky azizaaaam! I'm so glad I can help you and what I did was really few, your French is so so good!!!!

in this sentence "Je dérange le monde entier" I meant "I mess up the whole world/I disarrange the whole world"

Oh okay I see it better now so you can say:

- "remuer/retourner ciel et terre" (to move heaven and earth, in think in English they also say "to leave no stone unturned") ---> "je remue ciel et terre" (pour te retrouver... etc)
- "mettre le monde entier sens dessus dessous" more tricky to pronounce hehe (it means "to turn the whole world upside down") ----> "je mets le monde entier sens dessus dessous

Don't worry about "toutes tes photos"/"toutes les photos de toi", there is only a tiny difference between both, it depends on the context, but don't be too careful because it's only when you try that you can know if it was the good way to say it look at your sentence "j'ai reculé l'horloge pour être avec toi", I wouldn't have said it better! ^^

Thank youuuu for the link Dear, I'm gonna listen to this song right now(I was so sure it was a song of Farzad Farzin, I really don't know why ), as I have your beautiful translation to understand it perfectly!

Oh these 2 expressions are so useful and yeah the second one is really trickyBut I like it
Awwwwwww you give me so much courage to study French harder in order to make it perfect....thank you
LOLwas it that obivious?????
Anyway I hope you like it

Glad you liked them ^^ By the way here's a little detail about "mettre quelque chose sens dessus dessous", ordinary the word "sens" is pronounced /sɑ̃s/ (you have to say the last s) but in this expression it is pronounced /sɑ̃/ (without the final s) just like "sans, sang, cent, sent" ("without, blood, a hundred, feels/smells") and that's why some French people write it "sans dessus dessous" by mistake. Told you it was tricky

De rien dear Pinky, you're really gifted for languages
Yesssss I liked it very much, loved the alternation between the beautiful voice of Farzad Farzin and the electric guitar, it creates a really nice effect!

Oh I see,that was really a good pointAwwwwwwwww I hope to be giftedbut I guess I'm more passionate about languages!!anyway thankssssssss again for your help,your effort,your time, and everything
Yeah I don't like electric guitar that much but when there is some touches of it , it gives the song more energy and that's the time when I LOVE IT

I have no doubt about your passion for languages ^^ oowwww your thanks warm my heart, dear it's my pleasure to help people that are learning French so if you have any questions you can ask them well I like electrical guitar but yeah, it's sometimes more beautiful when there are just some touches of it. ^^

Awwwwwww c'est gentilJe suis très content que tu es toujours la pour réponder mes questionsJ'ai de la chance

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

Awwwwwww c'est gentilJe suis très contente que tu sois toujours la pour répondre à mes questionsJ'ai de la chance

You're so nice! It's my pleasure to answer your questions. ^^

"je suis content/contente que + subjunctive" (yeah funny tense )

Originally Posted by Enoo

You're so nice! It's my pleasure to answer your questions. ^^

"je suis content/contente que + subjunctive" (yeah funny tense )

OOOOOOOooooooops! DésoleéSubjunctive is gonna kill me one day

Originally Posted by pinky_girl

Subjunctive is gonna kill me one day

don't worry it's already busy with french people xD

Originally Posted by Enoo

don't worry it's already busy with french people xD

Really?????????Oh I'm happy then, I'm not the only oneI remember our teacher taught us subjunctive a whole term and asked us to write examples every session I used to be pretty good at it but now all I learned has just faded away........Now it's time to review my notebook againSo as long as it's busy with French people I can save my life and try to learn it again

Yessss let's take advantage from this time to review some subjunctives Don't worry you're certainly not the only one ^^ It's especially tricky for natives because sometimes the present subjunctive is pronounced the same way then the normal present BUT it's written a different way And as you were a champion of subjunctive it will come back very quickly But anyway it's when you do the same mistakes that you will fix the correct sentences in your memory ^^

A little reminder

Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive
Être - To be je suis tu es il/elle/on est nous sommes vous êtes ils/elles sont	Être - To be que je sois que tu sois qu'il/elle/on soit que nous soyons que vous soyez qu'ils/elles soient	Avoir - To have j'ai tu as il/elle/on a nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont	Avoir - To have que j'aie que tu aies qu'il/elle/on ait que nous ayons que vous ayez qu'ils/elles aient

Passé composé - Indicatif	Past Subjunctive	Passé composé - Indicatif	Past Subjunctive
Être j'ai été tu as été il/elle/on a été nous avons été vous avez été ils/elles ont été	Être que j'aie été que tu aies été qu'il/elle/on ait été que nous ayons été que vous ayez été qu'ils/elles aient été	Avoir j'ai eu tu as eu il/elle/on a eu nous avons eu vous avez eu ils/elles ont eu	Avoir que j'aie eu que tu aies eu qu'il/elle/on ait eu que nous ayons eu que vous ayez eu qu'ils/elles aient eu

So as you can see, in the past it's more easy because you just have to remember the present subjunctive of "avoir" (ou "être" for a few verbs like venir (to come), rester (to stay)...) and add the past participle of the verb you want to conjugate.

ex: with manger (to eat) --- past participle : mangé
Je ne pense pas qu'il mange ici aujourd'hui --- I don't think that he is eating here today
Je ne pense pas qu'il ait mangé ici hier --- I don't think that he ate here yesterday

So Whenever we have 2 different subject and between them there is "que" we use subjunctive??