wwo33d | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

barren tundraBOT Mar 16, 2025, 1:50 AM

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Please be patient

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

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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.

simple olive Mar 16, 2025, 1:51 AM

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qu'un seul sort

only one type

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que jeter un seul sort would imply he could **cast **1 type of spell, but maybe he could do X with n amount of other spells

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at least that's how i interpret it, as a heritage speaker

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:52 AM

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tbf since 'only' is placed before the verb, assuming that the adverb is modifying the verb isn't unreasonable

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but yes what Andromeda said is right

mystic stirrup Mar 16, 2025, 1:53 AM

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Ok if that’s the meaning, then English isn’t actually correct but we colloquially speak the way it’s written, hah. It should be: He knew how to cast only a single spell.

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:53 AM

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right

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I was just about to say that lol

mystic stirrup Mar 16, 2025, 1:54 AM

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Can you do the same thing with pas/personne/nulle part etc?

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Place them after a verb pair I mean

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:55 AM

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« ne … que » is fairly special here because it's placed after the part where you want the restriction

mystic stirrup Mar 16, 2025, 1:55 AM

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Ok that makes sense thank you

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While you’re here, is there a rule for when it’s “savoir comment faire” vs “savoir faire”?

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:56 AM

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« Il ne veut qu'écouter Élise »
Emphasis: Listening to Elise

« Il ne veut écouter qu'Élise »
Emphasis: Elise

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For « ne … pas/jamais/rien », they're always going to be placed around the first verb

mystic stirrup Mar 16, 2025, 1:57 AM

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shadow kite « Il ne veut __qu'écouter Élise__ » Emphasis: Listening to Elise « Il ne veut é...

Oh this is so helpful thanks

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:57 AM

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« Il ne veut pas écouter Élise » and not « *Il ne veut écouter pas Élise »

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The exception is « ne … personne/nulle part » because it's the negative adverb was originally a pronoun

fiery timber Mar 16, 2025, 1:58 AM

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"il ne veut qu'écouter Elise" he only wants to do that compared to any other action
"il ne veut écouter qu'Elise" he only wants to listen to her compared to anyone else

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:58 AM

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I feel like I'm missing one

mystic stirrup Mar 16, 2025, 1:58 AM

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Rien?

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 1:59 AM

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mystic stirrup Rien?

No, that follows the first verb:
« Il ne veut rien écouter »

fiery timber Mar 16, 2025, 1:59 AM

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aucun

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 2:00 AM

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yes, thanks

shadow kite Mar 16, 2025, 2:03 AM

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mystic stirrup While you’re here, is there a rule for when it’s “savoir comment faire” vs “savo...

Technically you don't need « comment » since it's already implicitly present in the verb's meaning but I've seen it come up from time to time

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