#auxve

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

muted karmaBOT
#
Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

nimble tulip
#

it depends on the context. "savoir" and "connaître" both translate to "know" but aren't used in the same situations.
This is very easy to Google.

wide orchid
#

Google isn’t always right

nimble tulip
wide orchid
#

I want to learn what people really say

wide orchid
heady sigil
#

The verb savoir is for knowledge, such as 2+2=4.

Connaître is more for things with a deeper understanding or connection.

For example:

Je sais que tu l'aimes.
Je te connais bien.
Je ne sais pas la réponse.
Je ne connais pas Paris.
Je sais où je suis.
Est-ce que tu connais Madame Legrand?

#

I'm sorry I can't explain it better, but others may know the rules better than I.

wide orchid
heady sigil
#

I guess connaître has a similar meaning to "familiar with". Not exactly but, close.

#

@wide orchid
For example, take the sentence
"Je sais qu'il y a des raccourcis, mais je ne les connais pas."

I know there are shortcuts, but I'm not familiar with them.

You have the knowledge that they exist (savoir) but not the understanding of where they are, where they go, how they work, etc. (connaître).

zinc anchor
#

as a general rule:
savoir + que/où/comment/quand/pourquoi/qui/<verb>
connaître + noun

this works less with "je connais/sais" on its own:
Je sais = I know (I already know that information)
Je connais = I know of it/I've heard of it/I'm familiar with it (I have some level of familiarity with the thing you're talking about)

there are some other odd usages that you'll come across eventually but this should give you the gist

crude ivy
heady sigil
wide orchid
#

Je sais je connais mais je ne sais pas oú je sais them from, tu connais?

#

Is any of this correct?

crude ivy
#

i think it's

je sais que je les connais mais je ne sais pas __d'o__ù je les connais, tu sais ?

heady sigil
#

Je sais que je les connais mais je ne sais pas d'où je les connais, tu sais?

heady sigil
wide orchid
#

Whoa

#

Why the “que”

#

Doesn’t que mean that?

heady sigil
#

It's like "that" in English.

wide orchid
#

Oh

#

I know that I know them

crude ivy
#

The word "that" is optional in English, but "que" is not optional in French.

wide orchid
#

Also why do you guys put “de” infront of some words like “d’oú” or like “d’apprendre”?

heady sigil
#

**D'**où means "de où", as in, "from where".
**D'**apprendre comes from the verb that comes before.

For example it is "Il a décidé **d'**apprendre", because the verb is "decider de faire quelque chose".

I don't know if that makes sense, and it is more complicated than that but you get the gist.

wide orchid
#

If you said “j’essaie d’apprendre” would it mean “I’m trying to learn” instead of “I’m trying learn” if you didn’t have the de

crude ivy
wide orchid
bleak fable
#

Some verbs require a preposition before an infinitive. Essayer is one of them and uses de.

heady sigil
#

oh you werent talking to me 😅

#

the point they are making is that the de comes from the verb before not after.

J'essaie **d'**apprendre.
Je commence à apprendre.

This is because essayer takes the préposition de, but commencer takes the préposition à.

wide orchid
#

Ok

heady sigil
#

You will learn them naturally as you hear and see more natural French 🙂

wide orchid
#

Yes I will keep trying but it will take a while

crude ivy
wide orchid
#

Oh what’s the point of having that accent then. Strange.

heady sigil
#

Other languages use them

wide orchid
#

Oh true

crude ivy
#

é and è and e are all pronounced differently

zinc anchor
#

e can be pronounced è depending on the word but yea

#

ê is also a different pronunciation in some dialects

wide orchid
#

Also just while I’m here is double s like just an s sound and 1 s is more of a z sound

heady sigil
#

é is like english A (ayy)
è is like ehhh (like in meh)
and e is like uh (like in uh-uh) (often silent)
ê depends on the situation

zinc anchor