riri1.5

[plain nova]

Please be patient

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

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[calm flume]

conjugate ur verbs and include an adverb in the two phrases??

[subtle acorn]

ya that

i am not asking for you to do my work i am asking if you can help me understand what this says and what i have to do

[calm flume]

write those sentences in l'imparfait or passé composé

[subtle acorn]

how

with all due respect to the french langauge its rage baiting me to much sir

[calm flume]

bruh pay attention in class...

but

like

[subtle acorn]

i am hard of hearing and cant hear my teacher im soery but its impossible to hear my teacher

[calm flume]

je faisais le vaisselle et un verre tombait???

[calm flume]

tell her that

she would help you

[subtle acorn]

she knows she is also hard of hearing but doesnt help me because idk

[calm flume]

that suckjs

[subtle acorn]

howd it go from faire la vassibelelele to je faissais le vassiaelle💔

[calm flume]

imparfait

faire is a verb

and conjugates

[subtle acorn]

why is there somuch rules in french

[calm flume]

we do this in english dawg...

i was setting the table

[subtle acorn]

what even is conjugulgars

[calm flume]

was setting (technically making but thats the english equivalent of the phrase) = faisais

[subtle acorn]

ya bro im failing ts french✌️

[calm flume]

changing the verb depending on the subject and tense

for example

to be in english

conjugates to "am" when you are talking about yourself

i am

instead of "i to be"

[subtle acorn]

oh

[calm flume]

imparfait is like using "was" in english

i was being

i was making

[subtle acorn]

would regarder un film en classe / les eleves faire du bruit

switch to “ I watched tv in class”
so Je regarder un film en classe

[calm flume]

passé composé is like most ed words

[subtle acorn]

what the actual flippers bro

[calm flume]

no...

i to watch tv in class

is what u said

[subtle acorn]

watched but like what french word wld that b

[calm flume]

j'ai regardé

[subtle acorn]

isnt jai “i have”

[calm flume]

i had watched

yes

[subtle acorn]

what is the line on e

[calm flume]

we also do that in english sometimes

but most of the time we drop it

[calm flume]

an accent

changes how the lettert is said

[subtle acorn]

ohh ok

what about passe compose sentences

[calm flume]

wdym

[subtle acorn]

what do i switch there

[potent arrow]

(Technically it’s not adverb but conjunction)

[subtle acorn]

what is an adverb and conjunction vro💔

[calm flume]

yeah but i dont know one i could use in that senario LOL

i suck at french too

[potent arrow]

Hold on

I gotta open the laptop for this

[subtle acorn]

number 4 is passe composee what do i switch for those

[calm flume]

-ly words in english or -ment words in fernch are adverbs

[potent arrow]

First off, do you know what conjugation is? As in, when I say « je parle » and « vous parlez », do you understand what us happening here?

[subtle acorn]

um perchance

[potent arrow]

Why parler becomes parle and parlez

[subtle acorn]

“ i speak” or you all speak

ya because of the liek word infront of it

[potent arrow]

Okay good

So conjugation is when a verb changes because of some element

[calm flume]

i tried explaining to him...

[subtle acorn]

uhhuh

her

[potent arrow]

Verbs can change according to person but also tense

[subtle acorn]

whats tense

[potent arrow]

Tense is time

So present is well stuff happening now

Je parle means I am speaking right now

[subtle acorn]

guys i swear im smart and im acting really sped with ts bc i dont understand

[potent arrow]

I’m not speaking in the past nor the future, but now

[subtle acorn]

Ok

[potent arrow]

Now let’s take a step back into the past

[subtle acorn]

etydier pour un test de francais

studided for a test in french

[potent arrow]

We have two tenses: Imparfait (imperfect) and passé composé (compound past/perfect). Do you know what these two are?

[subtle acorn]

i guess

[calm flume]

( was being and have been)

[potent arrow]

HAVE been

[calm flume]

incomplete action and complete action

[subtle acorn]

oh

[potent arrow]

had been would be pluperfect or past perfect

Anyway

[subtle acorn]

so is the studided for french test a incomplete sentence

in frnech

[calm flume]

what

[subtle acorn]

look at number 4

its passe composee so is it a incomplete sentence

[calm flume]

no

thats

ugh

[subtle acorn]

im gnablowup bro

[calm flume]

imcomplete i mean you have not completed the action yet in that time

[potent arrow]

No no

[calm flume]

oh

nvm...

[subtle acorn]

so its an action not a sentnece

[potent arrow]

Let's take a deep breath

Slow down

[subtle acorn]

i have a 47% in french and i have a 90s honor roll i need to pass ts guys

[potent arrow]

The imperfect describes something that has duration
The compound past describes a simple action

[subtle acorn]

with all resepect reading thst jst gave me a premature stroke sir

[potent arrow]

For example, say your room was dark and you turned on the light. Turning on the light is a simple action, you just flick the switch and the light turns on.

[subtle acorn]

uhhuh

[potent arrow]

There's also a clear before/after situation here

Before the action, the room was dark

After the action, the room was bright

Because the action is you turning on the light

With me so far?

[subtle acorn]

oui!

[potent arrow]

Good!

In that case, we would use the compound past because it's a simple action

[subtle acorn]

can u volentuer ur time at 5pm est and help me with this i have todo a french presenation rn

[potent arrow]

And it has a clear before/after state

[subtle acorn]

ok so passe composee is like all those tense actions

[potent arrow]

No, we are 12 hours apart and that would be the early morning

[potent arrow]

Right right

[potent arrow]

Think of it as black and white

There's a clear boundary between black and white

[subtle acorn]

what about 8pm

est

[potent arrow]

Now, the imperfect is all about the greys. It has duration which means that there isn't a clean action.

The big example is weather

[subtle acorn]

okok

what does il pense mean

[potent arrow]

Say you came home one night, went to bed, and woke up to find that it was raining

[potent arrow]

'He thinks'

[subtle acorn]

ok ya im following

[potent arrow]

For you, there's no clear before/after period. There's no point in time where you can say that before an action happened it wasn't raining and after that it was

[subtle acorn]

ill write that down on my paper in my freetime later

[potent arrow]

Moreover, it's not like the rain is falling and then stopping

It went on and on, right?

[subtle acorn]

yes

[potent arrow]

Rain also doesn't stop at a specific time

You can't say that at 08.30 it was drenching wet and at 08.31 it was dry

[subtle acorn]

why doesnt the num 4 make sense than

[potent arrow]

Rather, it was really heavy rain at 08.30, light rain at 08.40, and little rain at 08.50

There is no clear boundary between the start and stop

[subtle acorn]

yk im jst gna accept my fate and fail this class 🥀

[potent arrow]

With me so far?

[subtle acorn]

tes but im in beginner french i dont thinky my teacher was that advanced and spefic

[potent arrow]

I'm going to be honest

This is like A2 and I probably could've given you just the structure

but you wouldn't understand what's happening

I'm trying to teach you the logic so you know what to do in future questions

so that, you know, you don't run back here the moment you find a similar structure

She's offline
Ah well, I tried 🤷

[potent arrow]

Since you also don't seem to know this structure (||Je courais quand j'ai vu un écureuil||), would you like to know?

[calm flume]

yes

...

[potent arrow]

Great!

[calm flume]

wdym un écureuil

[potent arrow]

Anyway, imperfect = duration / passé composé = (quick) action

[potent arrow]

squirrel

[calm flume]

IK BUT WHY

[potent arrow]

This is what we call an 'interruption'

[calm flume]

my bad

anyways

[potent arrow]

You'll have two clauses: One in imperfect showing the duration and the other in passé composé showing the interrupting action

« Je courais quand j'ai vu un écureuil (I was running when I saw a squirrel) »

[calm flume]

OH

COURAIS

not

connait

BUT

that makes sense

[potent arrow]

The imperfect here describes the thing you were doing when the passé composé action happened

The PC action 'interrupted' your IMP event

[calm flume]

yeysyyy

i get it

i thought about doing that for the sentence but i didnt know thatw as the right way

[potent arrow]

Another example:
« Je regardais la télé quand j'ai entendu le téléphone sonner. »

I was watching the television when I heard the telephone ring.

[calm flume]

okay i see

wait antoher question though

whats the difference between quand and lorsque

[potent arrow]

You have a clause showing the background event (watching TV) and another showing something happening within that background even (telephone ringing)

[potent arrow]

As a conjunction, lorsque is just more formal

[calm flume]

oh

[calm flume]

so just like engilsh

[potent arrow]

Right

but the second clause (passé composé) is a bit different

In general, English's simple past continuous (I was running) will translate as the French imperfect (je courais), and English present perfect (I have run) will translate as the French compound past (j'ai couru)

Notice also that the structure of the English present perfect (an auxiliary verb plus a past participle) is the same as the French passé composé; that's not a coincidence

The tricky bit is the simple past (I ran), and that's why you saying that passé composé is -ed verbs when it's more complicated than that

Depending on context, the simple past can either be translated as the imperfect or the compound past

[calm flume]

i ran and saw a squirrel would kinda also be that sentence u said earlier in french?

[potent arrow]

It would be a valid sentence but it wouldn't be an interruption

Rather it would be as if you ran, stopped, and then saw a squirrel

Whereas an interruption meant that you saw a squirrel while you were running or in the middle of you running

[calm flume]

OH

i see

thank you!

[potent arrow]

Example:
I went to school every morning at 8 AM.
=> Habitual action, imperfect
==> « J'allais à l'école tous les matins à 08h00 »

I went to school at 8 AM.
=> One-off thing, compound past
==> « Je suis allé à l'école à 08h00 »

[subtle acorn]

i had a presnentaiton but thanks

[potent arrow]

@subtle acorn Sorry about that, you can start reading from here

[subtle acorn]

thanks for ur wffort to help me wit this

[subtle acorn]

my teacher said that my imparfait verbs where correct so i understood that but my passe compore is what im having siffucluotirts with

sidfuxulty

diffucult

[potent arrow]

Read through that and I'll try to help with your homework

[subtle acorn]

ok

[potent arrow]

Difficulties where?

Usage, conjugation, or both?

[subtle acorn]

french🥀

2. Ranger sa chambre / Téléphone sonner

This is Passe Composee

whatdoes the sentenfe say in english can u trsnalete

[potent arrow]

Have you read the above?

Because I've explained it at length there

Read the convo first

[subtle acorn]

i have trouble seeing the text bc i wear glasses but not at school so im trying to zoomin with the screenshots

[potent arrow]

Read the convo first before asking

It should at least give you an idea of what to do

[subtle acorn]

so like “ i want the candy “ turned to “ i wanted the candy “ in passe composee cerbs

[potent arrow]

In the passé composé tense

But it's a lot more complicated than that

At least with 'wanted'

[subtle acorn]

ofc it is🥀

[potent arrow]

What matters here is you knowing this

[subtle acorn]

im in school using discord like a friggin geek but anything to pass

[subtle acorn]

what does Ranger sa chambre / Téléphone sonner
mean for wuick action

[potent arrow]

Look if you're not going to be cooperative I might as well save myself the bother and log out 🤷

[subtle acorn]

wait i am being copperstvite

my friends r harassing me

[potent arrow]

Ranger sa chambre = To clean/tidy up his/her (own) bedroom
Téléphone sonner = Telephone ringing

[subtle acorn]

so thats a quick action

[potent arrow]

No, you have to analyse this

[subtle acorn]

for passe composee what dow e have to translate it to

[potent arrow]

Which one has duration and which does not?

[subtle acorn]

duration is the first

[potent arrow]

Okay, so duration is imperfect

[subtle acorn]

and telephone is not

so imparfait?

[potent arrow]

Yup

The one without the duration is passé composé

[subtle acorn]

ohh

what do i have todo if its passec ompose

[potent arrow]

Remember, the passé composé action is something that happens WITHIN the imparfait event

[potent arrow]

As in conjugation?

[subtle acorn]

um let me read the paper

sso first conjugation so do we conjugate the tidy up room

[potent arrow]

I'll make my own example and then talk you through it

Because I don't want to answer your work for you

Prendre une douche = To take a shower
(Mon amie) m'appeler = (My friend) To call me

Which one do you think has duration?

[subtle acorn]

“ for the action write the phrase in imparfait or passe compose “

ok um the

[potent arrow]

Which one do you think is a quick action?

[subtle acorn]

friend callinng

is duration

wait no qucikcaftion

friend calling is quick action.

[potent arrow]

okay good good

So what's the duration then?

[subtle acorn]

the other one

[potent arrow]

Which one is that?

[subtle acorn]

the showering bc it slong

[potent arrow]

Good good

Okay so for the duration, we're going to put that into the imparfait

Conjugate « prendre » in the imparfait with « je »

[subtle acorn]

je prends

[potent arrow]

That's the present

Je prends = I take/I am taking

I want 'I was taking'

[subtle acorn]

i was taking so um

je parlias?

[potent arrow]

To conjugate the imperfect, take the present conjugation for nous, remove the -ons ending, and then add the imperfect endings

[subtle acorn]

which is

[potent arrow]

-ais for je, -ais for tu, -ait for il/elle, -ions for nous, -iez for vous, -aient for ils/elles

Example

[subtle acorn]

ok so je preais

[potent arrow]

Nous parlons becomes parl

[subtle acorn]

oh

[potent arrow]

je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient

literally parl + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

Okay so what is the present nous conjugation for « prendre » ?

Je prends, tu prends, il prend, nous…

[subtle acorn]

je parlais

[potent arrow]

parlais would be 'was speaking'

from parler (to speak)

not prendre (to take)

I'll help you out – here's the present conjugations for prendre:
Je prends, tu prends, il prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils prennent

So, what's the nous conjugation?

[subtle acorn]

nouse penons

[potent arrow]

Just the verb

prenons

[subtle acorn]

prenons

[potent arrow]

Remove the ons and what do you get?

[subtle acorn]

where r we going with this i forgot

[potent arrow]

Conjugating the imperfect

[subtle acorn]

oh ya ik how todo that

[potent arrow]

I've literally JUST asked you to conjugate « prendre » in the imperfect and you couldn't do that

[subtle acorn]

im deadass lossinf beaincwlls being taught ts with all respect kind sir

love u for helping me trying to understand all this french crap but i dont understand the stupid passe composee verbs which is so unnessaecy inlife and wld rather get brutallyl toeutured instead of taking or doing french ever again in my life

love u for helping me tho

or like trying to

[potent arrow]

Passé composé is easy

It's imperfect that's taking you out rn

[subtle acorn]

ya but idk what my work wants me todo

ugh vro ugh🥀🥀

ya bro i quit ts french crap have a good life sir