Self-tutoring about French vocabulary: the tutor mentions the verb s’emparer. S’emparer is a French verb that perhaps suggests not only grabbing or seizing, but also taking control of. It’s reflexive: Il s’empare de l’intrus. (He takes hold of the intruder.) …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor observes a peculiarity. In French, a “thing” is feminine – une chose. Once you get more specific, however, the gender of that “thing” can turn out to be masculine or feminine. Quelle chose a-t-il utilisé …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions an irregular pattern of a few verbs. It’s je m’appelle, (“I call myself”), but the infinitive form is appeler. Similarly, je rejette (“I reject”), when the infinitive is rejeter. Doubling the end consonant happens …
French: irregular conjugations: double last consonant, je form Read more »
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions an expression that’s come up a few times in his reading. Apparently, Il n’y a past un chat is a French expression that means “No-one is there.” Taken literally, it means “There is not …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions French plurals. Typically, similarly to English, French adds s at the end of a noun to make it plural: une femme, deux femmes. However, in English we have some pluralizations that would be unpredictable: …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions the idea of détente. I heard about “détente” when I was a kid: it was an easing of relations between the US and the Soviets, and extended to 1979. Its main players were Nixon …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions the noun personne. In an earlier post I mention how personne, in French, can be used to say “nobody” or “not anybody.” That’s not its only use. Personne also means person in English. “Je …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions the French word isolation. In French, isolation means, in English, insulation. The French word for the English isolation is isolement. Source: collinsdictionary.com
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions a possible confusion with déception. Often, the English word is very similar to the French one. The words emotion (English) and émotion (French) are examples of this; there are many others. Yet, in some …
Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions a French construct with personne. In French, personne can mean nobody: Personne ne veut étudier aujourd’hui. (Nobody wants to study today.) Personne can also mean anyone, used in the negative: Il ne partage cette …