#dulrame

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

hoary plumeBOT
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Please be patient

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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.

grave quartz
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se

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on se voit

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on se parle

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etc 🙂

cerulean stone
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if you use "nous" with "on" in this case it changes the meaning entirely
on se voit → we see each other
on nous voit → someone sees us

glacial wraith
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i meant

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"il on voit"

near thunder
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It doesn't work because "on" is only a subject pronoun.

glacial wraith
near thunder
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Yep.

glacial wraith
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got it

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merci

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also

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why doesn't "on" use lui and se

winged pebble
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the last line on that chart is weird

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should be
personal: nous/on | nous | nous | nous/se | nous
impersonal: on | ø | ø | se | soi

glacial wraith
winged pebble
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I mean the chart you posted is just either wrong or very innacurate regarding the last line

glacial wraith
winged pebble
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when "on" means "nous", it uses "nous" as object pronoun and "se" as reflexive pronoun

glacial wraith
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i got it

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but that "on" in the chart is in the meaning of "one"

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if I'm not mistaken

winged pebble
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in that case it's impersonal
which uses "se" as reflexive as well and doesn't have object pronouns by nature

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and the stressed pronoun is indeed "soi"

glacial wraith
winged pebble
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no clue

glacial wraith
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btw can you explain j'étais vs j'ai été

grave quartz
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I'm cooking atm so I can't write out a detailed response right now but it is similar to the the difference between "i was (be)ing" and "I have been". The first is something that happened over time, the second is something that happened at some single point in time.

j'en étais sûr (I was sure of it) (not just at one point in time)
j'ai été arnaqué (I have been scammed) (a single event that doesn't span time)

there are others here who will be able to explain it a lot better and I could give you more examples when I get to my computer 😅

winged pebble
# glacial wraith btw can you explain j'étais vs j'ai été

they're two different tenses:
j'étais is imparfait
j'ai été is passé composé

passé composé is used for one time events, where you focus on the action happening at a given point in your narration, with a before and an after.
ex: j'ai été arnaqué (I got scammed)
the focus is on the action happening at one point and marking a change

imparfait is used for elongated actions, states and habits. It's a ongoing event that describes the situation as a whole.
ex: j'étais à Marseille (I was in Marseille)
this sets the state you were in during that time. At that point of your narration, the action still holds true.

glacial wraith
winged pebble
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There are similarities for sure. Some of those tenses even have the same origin in both languages (have + past participle and passé composé are "perfect" tenses)
That said, they are used differently in both languages and making direct comparisons can actually bring more confusion than it helps, and I would advocate towards understanding the underlying rules behind how to choose between the two using French language logic rather than relying on a transposition from English.