#When to use certain phrases

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flat cipherBOT
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When to use certain phrases

honest ermine
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Okay so you have to think about the full expression for « en train ». I imagine your teacher was talking about « être en train de + verbe à l'infinitif ». This structure is used to emphasise an on-going action.
« Je suis en train de cuisiner. »
'I am in the process/in the middle of cooking.'
Now, English has two present tenses, a simple one (I walk) and a progressive (I am walking) where the first states a simple fact whereas the second states that the action is on-going. You can use « être en train de verbe » as a translation for the present progressive but it's used a lot less frequently. If you want to translate the present progressive, 90% of the time you'll just use the present « je marche » and not « je suis en train de marcher » unless you are trying your absolute best to indicate that you are literally in the middle of walking.

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For the second one, « se rendre » has several meanings. That « se » is the reflexive pronoun meaning that it refers back to the subject. « rendre » primarily means 'to give back, to return, to make » so « se rendre » is « to give oneself, to make oneself ».

The former meaning is usually metaphorical and means 'to go'. I'm guessing it's this usage that your teacher is talking about. 'to go' can be translated as « se rendre », but it's a lot more common – like a lot more common – to just use « aller ».
The latter meaning 'to make' is used with adjectives and emotions:
« Je la rends heureuse (I make her happy) »
« Je me rends heureux (I make myself happy) [« se », since it refers to the subject, has to change according to the subject] ».

dim glade
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Ah okay, that makes a lot of sense now, the examples really helped. Thank you for your explanation, I just hope i remember it lol. It just seemed really random to me whenever they were brought up

honest ermine
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There's also a secondary meaning for the former version, the part where you 'give yourself away'. It's used when you are capitulating, giving in, and it's the root for our English word of 'surrender'.
« Le criminel s'est rendu à la police. (The criminal has surrendered/has given themselves to the police) »