I am going to apologize to him later tonight
Je vais lui demander pardon plus tard ce soir
to apologize to - demander pardon à. You could also use the verb s'excuser or the expression présenter des excuses.
Are you going to feed the children?
Vas-tu nourrir les enfants?
to feed - nourrir, donner à manger
She has to feed the animals
Elle doit nourrir les animaux
an animal - un animal. Note the plural form.
What kind of pet do you have?
Quel type d'animal domestique avez-vous?
a pet - un animal domestique. Note that a more colloquial way of asking this would be Tu as quoi comme animal domestique?
The male is often larger and more muscular
Le mâle est souvent plus grand et plus musclé
a male - un mâle. Note that mâle is also an adjective. The term is normally used to talk about animals.
What is the difference between the male and the female?
Quelle est la différence entre le mâle et la femelle?
a female - une femelle. Like mâle, femelle can also be used as an adjective. This term is only used to talk about animals.
I have only two pets
Je n'ai que deux animaux domestiques
only - ne... que. If the sentence were "I only have pets" (without the specific number of pets), you would have to use the partitive: Je n'ai que des animaux domestiques. Another way of saying "only" is with the adverb seulement.
I have only two pets
J'ai seulement deux animaux domestiques
only - seulement. Recall that as an alternative, you can use the construction ne... que.
He only bought one thing today because he knows he will get Christmas presents. He bought one thing today only because he knows he will get Christmas presents
Il n'a acheté qu'une chose aujourd'hui parce qu'il sait qu'il va recevoir des cadeaux de Noël. Il a acheté une chose aujourd'hui seulement parce qu'il sait qu'il va recevoir des cadeaux de Noël
Note how the placement of que and/or seulement changes the meaning as far as what is qualified by "only."
I do not only have three cars, I have two boats too
Je n'ai pas que trois voitures, j'ai deux bateaux aussi
not only - ne... pas que. There are other ways of saying "not only," using seulement.
I do not only have three cars, I have two boats too
Je n'ai pas seulement trois voitures, j'ai deux bateaux aussi
not only - ne... pas seulement
Not only do I have two dogs, but I have three cats too
Non seulement j'ai deux chiens, mais aussi trois chats
not only - non seulement. This construction cannot stand alone and requires something to balance it; in this case, aussi serves that purpose.
I'm going to the pet store to buy some dog food
Je vais à l'animalerie pour acheter de la nourriture pour chien
a pet store - une animalerie
No one knows this personne
Nul ne connait cette personne
no one... - nul ne... This is a formal alternative to personne ne...
She is not going anywhere
Elle ne va nulle part
nowhere, not anywhere - ne... nulle part
We are going to buy a Christmas tree next week
Nous allons acheter un arbre de Noël la semaine prochaine
a tree - un arbre
There are hundreds of trees in this small forest
Il y a des centaines d'arbres dans cette petite forêt
a forest - une forêt. Note that "jungle" is jungle, which is also feminine.
(formal) Do you want to go hiking in the countryside?
Voulez-vous faire de la randonnée dans la campagne?
the countryside - la campagne
In France, we eat a lot of duck
En France, on mange beaucoup de canard
a duck - un canard
My uncle has a farm in the countryside
Mon oncle a une ferme à la campagne
a farm - une ferme
I hope that we will see the farm
J'espère qu'on va voir la ferme
to hope - espérer. Note how "to hope that" is espérer que + a verb in the indicative mood. "To hope for" or "to count on" is translated by espérer en + a noun.
What is the imperfect tense in French?
The imperfect tense (l'imparfait) is a descriptive form of the past tense. It denotes incomplete and/or repeated actions, or an ongoing state of being. It is used for past habits, descriptions, and actions of unspecified duration. The imperfect is most often translated in English as "was" or "was ___-ing."
How do you conjugate the imperfect tense?
Take the present tense nous form of the verb in question and drop the original ending. Then add the imperfect endings: ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient.
For example, the je form of arriver in the imperfect is j'arrivais.
In 2006, I was going to school every day
En 2006, j'allais à l'école tous les jours
Note the first-person singular in the imperfect tense of the verb aller. This is formed by taking the stem of the present tense nous form (all-) and adding the appropriate imperfect ending.
- I was going
- you were going
- he/she/it was going
- we were going
- you (plural) were going
- they were going
- j'allais
- tu allais
- il/elle/on allait
- nous allions
- vous alliez
- ils/elles allaient
He was studying. We were studying too
Il étudiait. Nous étudiions aussi
The imperfect root for this verb is étudi-, which results in a double "i" in both the nous and vous forms.
When he was nine, he studied very little
Quand il avait neuf ans, il étudiait très peu
Note the imperfect of the verb avoir. The imperfect is used here to describe a past habit.
She used to eat a lot
Elle mangeait beaucoup
The imperfect is used for past habits or states of being, so the imperfect of manger can convey that the subject "used to eat." The imperfect root of manger is mange-, except for the nous and vous forms, which don't need the "e": nous mangions, vous mangiez.
It was nice out yesterday
Il faisait beau hier
Note the imperfect of the verb faire, which takes the stem fais-. Also note how the imperfect is used to describe weather in the past. The imperfect is generally used for any physical and emotional descriptions in the past.
It was raining on my birthday
Il pleuvait le jour de mon anniversaire
Note that the imperfect stem of pleuvoir is pleuv-.
