#ifyourehomelessjustbuyahouse
mellow tusk
hard bramble
one thing at a time, what do you want to focus on first?
blazing crest
The rules of Imparfait and passe composé
hard bramble
when to use one vs the other or how to form them?
blazing crest
Both actually
hard bramble
what do you know about them?
blazing crest
I know that passe compose is when the action is finished
Wait
I forgot imparfait
hard bramble
Passé composé is used to describe events that happened at a specific point in the past. They're singular events, with no duration in your narration (they could be long events, it's just that for the purpose of your sentence, they act as a thing that happened at one time, with a before and an after).
Imparfait is used to describe long-lasting states, habits, or contextual events.
Imagine a timeline. If the event is a single point in time, it would be passé composé, if it's a duration in which stuff happens, it would be imparfait (passé composé actions can actually take some time in practice, but this doesn't matter in the context of your narration)
"Je marchais quand je l'ai vue" (I was walking when I saw her)
marcher is using imparfait because it's a state I was in while something else was happening
voir is using passé composé because the action happened at once
hard bramble
"When I was a kid, I often went to that store. Then one day, the owner left."
Without asking you to translate everything, can you guess what tense each verb would use once translated?
blazing crest
Okay
I was = Passé composé
I often went = Imparfait
The owner left = Passé composé
hard bramble
you're getting close, but not quite
I was => imparfait (it's context. being a kid is something that lasted a long time, and I'm describing things that happened during that timespan)
I often went => imparfait (yeah it's a habit, I did it regularly for a whole timespan)
the owner left => passé composé (it happened at once. Before that, the owner was there, after that the owner wasn't there, there's no inbetween)
blazing crest
you're getting close, but not quite
I was => imparfait (it's context. being a ki...
Im confused with the i was
Because you are grown up as a kid
So why
A kid is like happened once
hard bramble
not once, but at once
meaning it's immediate, it basically has no duration
using a timestamp, you can't pick a single point in time and say "I was a kid" happened specifically at that time, it's a long-term state
things happened during that state, for instance going to the store
meaning it uses imparfait
blazing crest
Okay so what you are saying that if it is for a long time, then it should be imparfait
hard bramble
yes
if it's a state someone/something was in, imparfait
if it's a habit, imparfait
if it's context, imparfait
if it's an action that happened once at a specific point in time, and you could say "at that moment, that thing happened" it's passé composé
blazing crest
Are there any exceptions for the two just in case?
hard bramble
no exceptions, but things you might find unnatural to translate
as the passé composé vs imparfait distinction isn't the same as the one English tenses use
English is more about completed vs uncompleted actions for instance
blazing crest
Yea i realized english is hard as french
Anyway, moving on to the direct and indirect objet
hard bramble
do you know what these terms are referring to?
hard bramble
first of do you know what an object is?
blazing crest
first of do you know what an object is?
A thing
hard bramble
not in the grammatical context
a subject is the thing doing the action
an object is the target of the action
I see the sun
Marie is talking to me
blazing crest
I know that
blazing crest
Well, they are pronouns
hard bramble
the difference between direct and indirect object is mostly semantic and comes down to "is there a preposition between the verb and the object?"
Je vois le soleil ("le soleil" is the object. As it is directly following the verb "vois", it is a direct object)
Je parle à Thomas ("Thomas" is the object. As there is a preposition "à" between the verb "parle" and the object, it is an indirect object)
that said, this difference can have its importance when talking about object pronouns or agreements
blazing crest
So, there should always be "à" for indirect?
hard bramble
not always "à", there are other types of prepositions, such as de, en, sur, dans...
also, when you are using an object pronoun, the preposition disappears, and instead you have to pick the right object pronoun based on the preposition of choice.
This is the hard part
blazing crest
Oh! So if there are prepositions, then indirect?
hard bramble
yes
as I said, it's semantics. Not a useful rule on its own, but the difference can matter for other concepts
blazing crest
also, when you are using an object pronoun, the preposition disappears, and inst...
I'm not following here
hard bramble
I'm explaining. As it seems like it is part of your initial question
blazing crest
Like i dont get it
hard bramble
"I see the sun" => "I see it"
"I'm talking to Thomas" => "I'm talking to him"
you can replace the object with what is called an object pronoun when what we're talking about is obvious. Do you know how to do that in French?
Je vois le soleil => (?)
Je parle à Thomas => (?)
hard bramble
exactly
"le" is because you're replacing a direct object
"lui" is because you're replacing an indirect object (specifically a person)
blazing crest
What about if there is an inversion?
hard bramble
are you looking to apply inversion to those sentences?
blazing crest
Well, most of the questions I ask is always inversions
So yes
I also need it for gaming too
hard bramble
it would be "le vois-je ?" and "lui parlé-je ?" but that's very formal
more casual ways to ask questions would be "est-ce que je le vois ?", "est-ce que je lui parle ?" or simply "je le vois ?", "je lui parle ?"
hard bramble
yeah I was actually leading towards it
hard bramble
"le" is because you're replacing a direct object
"lui" is because you're replaci...
so you were saying you were familiar with that concept?
willow zealot
https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-17862.php
(For passé composé vs imparfait, maybe try out the exercises here and see how you do)
blazing crest
so you were saying you were familiar with that concept?
I am but i don't know how to use it
blazing crest
I am but i don't know how to use it
I failed that on my test
hard bramble
"y" and "en" are both indirect object pronouns, just like "lui" and "leur"
meaning they replace an indirect object when what you're talking about is obvious
"lui" and "leur" are for people (or animals)
"y" and "en" are for things
blazing crest
"y" and "en" are both indirect object pronouns, just like "lui" and "leur"
meani...
So like, I talk to it becomes J'y parle
Right?
Because you said things
hard bramble
"lui" is for a singular person
ex: je parle à Thomas => je lui parle
"leur" is for several people
ex: je parle à mes amis => je leur parle
"y" is for things introduced with the preposition "à"
ex: je joue à Minecraft => j'y joue
"en" is for things introduced with the preposition "de"
ex: j'ai besoin de l'ordinateur => j'en parle
hard bramble
So like, I talk to it becomes J'y parle
(almost, but your example is a weird case, you don't really use parler that way)
hard bramble
you only use "parler à" to speak to people
you can technically use it to indicate speaking to things, but in that case you'd have to personify those things, as if they were sentient, hence using "lui"
blazing crest
you only use "parler à" to speak to people
you can technically use it to indicat...
My french teacher mentioned that y is used for places and en is for quantity
But im confused with that
hard bramble
that's a way to simplify things, but this explication can break apart and doesn't cover a lot
the thing is, a lot of verbs using places as objects use "à" as a preposition
like "aller à" (to go to)
meaning when you're using an object pronoun, you're using "y"
Je vais à Paris => j'y vais
but let's take another example.
"to come from somewhere" is "venir de [somewhere]"
but the object pronoun for "de" is "en"
je viens de Paris => j'en viens (it's a place but using en)
and quantity has a similar explanation (quantities use partive articles like "du" "de la" hence using "de", which in turns can turn into the object pronoun "en")
blazing crest
Thats the only prepositions that y and en use?
hard bramble
for object pronouns, yes
they have other uses apart from being object pronouns, especially "en"
you may not have been introduced to them yet tho, except maybe "il y a"
blazing crest
One last thing
Im confused with de, de la and du
I know what des means
But i dont know how to use those three
hard bramble
they can actually have multiple use cases, do you have a specific example you'd like more light to be brought upon?
blazing crest
Like an adverb before a noun
hard bramble
let's start with
"de" + "le" always turns into "du", it's a mandatory contraction (when "le" is an article)
similarly "de" + "les" always turns into "des" (when "les" is an article). Note it's different from just "des" which is the plural of un/une
"de" + "la" doesn't contract
hard bramble
"du" is the masculine form of "de la"
I'm not sure what you mean
blazing crest
Like du pain and de pommed
hard bramble
let's start with
"de" + "le" always turns into "du", it's a mandatory contractio...
those can happen due to multiple reasons
1 is you have a verb that uses "de", and it is followed by a noun with le/la/les as its article
ex: je joue du piano => I'm playing piano (jouer de [playing] + le piano [piano])
2 is you have a uncountable noun, a quantity. Those use du/de la/des
ex: je veux du café => I want some coffee (vouloir [want] + du café [some coffee])
blazing crest
So, du means the quantity and de + le?
hard bramble
yes
blazing crest
And what about de?
hard bramble
it can mean a thousand things
"de" is a preposition, which is more like a grammatical tool used in constructions and stuff, it doesn't have one single meaning
same for "à"
hard bramble
blazing crest
That's it for now
Oh damn
I forgot something
One last last
When putting these things together, what is the order of prenoms?
hard bramble
blazing crest
Thank you