[French] Parlons-nous français?

[EmpanadaRica]

Originally Posted by pixel

Verbs :


3. I had talked to him. (English Past perfect)
Different ways to use this tense :
- action started earlier and is still going on
- action that appened very recently
- something which had been going on for some time.

There is no exact equivalence, but we could use :
Je lui ai parlé (passé composé)

4. I talked to him. (English Past simple)
Je lui ai parlé (passé composé)
Note : l'action est passée
(action is passed)


If anybody thinks I'm wrong or did mistakes please advice.

Not saying you're wrong as French is not my native language.
But just wondering, why not:

3. Je lui avais parlé.(plus-que-parfait- plusquamperfectum)

4. Je lui parlais. (imparfait)

[VivaEspana]

YOUR FESTIVAL PLANNER

The US recession had played havoc with audience numbers at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, with US tourism to Canada at its lowest level since 1972.

Translation in French:

VOTRE LE PLAN DU FESTIVAL

La recession des Etats-Unis d'Amerique [a joue; Passe Compose], [ jouait; Imperfect] or [avait joue; Pluperfect] les ravages avec les nombres spectateurs a les Stratford et Shaw Festivals, avec le tourisme des Etats-Unis d'Amerique a son niveau meilleur depuis que 1972.

What is Pluperfect? Is it Past perfect or .....What is its equivalent in English?

[EmpanadaRica]

Originally Posted by VivaEspana

What is Pluperfect? Is it Past perfect or .....What is its equivalent in English?

I think it would be the 'past perfect (simple)'.

[VivaEspana]

Originally Posted by EmpanadaRica

Not saying you're wrong as French is not my native language.
But just wondering, why not:

3. Je lui avais parlé.(plus-que-parfait- plusquamperfectum)

4. Je lui parlais. (imparfait)

It is ok, senorita Empanadarica. The way I see it, there's a thin line separating the two. I did not clearly state my original English sentence, that is why. No problem. Thanks so much, Pixel. Good!

[pixel]

@EmpanadaRica

3. Je lui avais parlé.(plus-que-parfait- plusquamperfectum)

4. Je lui parlais. (imparfait)

What I would say is that the sentence "I had talked to him" seems for me as an action completed and nothing else happens.

3. "Plus-que-parfait" is used in some conditions :

- Action accomplished at a specific moment
ex. Le 20 janvier, j'avais terminé (p-q-p) mon travail

- An action which has been accomplished before an other action in the past
ex. Dès qu'il avait terminé (p-q-p) son travail, il partait (imparfait) se promener.

- When you ask a favor to somebody
ex. J'étais venu (p-q-p) vous demander un service.

- For an action which would have happen with a condition
ex. Si j'avais eu (p-q-p) de l'argent, je t'en aurais donné (conditionel passé).


4. "Je lui parlais" is more a continuous action (I was talking to him) also used if you have something else to add :

Je lui parlais quand maman est arrivée (I was talking to him when mom arrived).
Hier je lui parlais (yesterday I was talking to him)

"Je lui ai parlé" is an action completed, finished.


Hope I'm clear enough.

[EmpanadaRica]

Ok

I thought you meant the translation in general of those tenses.. but I see now that you meant to distinguish between 'still ongoing' or 'ended'.

In fact thinking about it, this is how I use these tenses in French also, I hadn't realized the 'ongoing' versus 'ended' emphasis you intended.

Thanx for elaborating a bit.

[VivaEspana]

Brilliant linguists! Merci beacoupe!

[VivaEspana]

So can somebody again give me the difference between Passe compose and Passe simple? Just the two ...And give examples please..

[pixel]

@VivaEspana

YOUR FESTIVAL PLANNER

The US recession had played havoc with audience numbers at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, with US tourism to Canada at its lowest level since 1972.

Translation in French:

VOTRE LE PLAN DU FESTIVAL

La recession des Etats-Unis d'Amerique [a joue; Passe Compose], [ jouait; Imperfect] or [avait joue; Pluperfect] les ravages avec les nombres spectateurs a les Stratford et Shaw Festivals, avec le tourisme des Etats-Unis d'Amerique a son niveau meilleur depuis que 1972.

As explained yesterday, "votre" and "le" can't be used in the same time beside a nound (or subject). We say : "votre plan du festival" or "le plan du festival".


Votre organisateur de festival

La récession aux État-Unis a été catastrophique sur le nombre de spectateurs au Festival Stratford et Shaw, le tourisme américain au Canada étant à son plus bas niveau depuis 1972.

What is Pluperfect? Is it Past perfect or .....What is its equivalent in English?

There is no equivalent in English for "plus-que-parfait".

That's why we can't translate word by word any languages. It's often matter of feeling. Usually, we translate from a foreign language to our native language. But it is important to practice the other way too.

[pixel]

@VivaEspana

Passé simple : it is used when an action has been accomplished at a particular moment in the past.

ex. Il alla à l'école de 1995 à 2000.
Il fut malade de mars à juin.
Elle fut mariée pendant 15 ans.

It is more used in litterature than in an everyday basis.


Imparfait (in comparison) : when we use imparfait we don't care about the exact moment. It is somewhere in the past. We want to explain something that appened or what a person was doing in the past.

ex. En 1999 elle étudiait à l'université.
Il vivait à New-York avant.
J'allais à l'école à cette époque.


Passé composé : Is used when an action is done, completed, finished. It has been done in the past, even a very near past.

ex. Il est parti à cinq heures.
Elle a fini de déjeuner.
Nous sommes partis avant la nuit.
J'ai traversé le pont.