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French: dans, en etc. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| anime Triglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6361 days ago 161 posts - 207 votes  Speaks: Spanish, Swedish*, English Studies: German, Portuguese, French, Russian | Message 1 of 4 21 August 2013 at 9:47pm | IP Logged |
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Since there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable French speakers here I'm gonna go ahead with another
question. The preposition en in Spanish seems to be represented by no less than 4 prepositions in French :( dans, en, a and sur. I wanted to know the phrase "in my life I have visited many countries" or something similar. Is it dans ma vie? Thanks 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 2 of 4 21 August 2013 at 10:25pm | IP Logged |
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I would say Pendant ma vie. Not sure whether it's totally correct.
Dans as a time preposition is like Je reviens dans trois jours. I'm going back in three days. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Sizen Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4340 days ago 165 posts - 347 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Catalan, Spanish, Japanese, Ukrainian, German | Message 3 of 4 22 August 2013 at 3:40am | IP Logged |
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I think "dans ma vie" and "durant ma vie" are acceptable. Funny thing is it becomes "de ma vie" in negative
sentences. "Je ne suis jamais allé de ma vie." A quick over view of these French prepositions if you're interested. "Sur" is like "on top of" or just "on". Sur la table = on the table Sur le mur = on the wall "Dans" is "in" or "inside of". Dans le garage = in the garage Dans le livre = in the book It can also be "in" when talking about time. It denotes how much time is left before something happens. Le festival est dans trois jours. = The festival is in three days. "En" and "à" is where things get more complicated. "En" can be used for time as well. The difference is that it measures the time it takes to accomplish a task. Je l'ai écrit en 2 heures. = I wrote it in two hours. "En" is also used to mean "to" or "in" when talking about feminin countries like China and Switzerland or countries that start with a vowel. Je vis en chine/en Équateur. = I live in China/Ecuador. Je vais en suisse l'année prochaine. = I'm going to Switzerland next year. "Au", "à l'", "à la" and "aux" mean "to". The only difference is that "au" is used in front of masculin words that start with a consonant or an aspirated "h". "À la" is for feminin word that start with a consonant or an aspirated "h". "À l'" is for any masculin or feminin word that start with a vowel or a mute "h". And "aux" is for any plural word. "Au" is what you use with masculin countries that start with a consonant. "À" is found on its own in front of the names of cities and people. The important difference of "à Québec" (the city) vs "au Québec" (the province). I believe there's also a rule with islands or something, which results in constructions like "à Taïwan" despite Taiwan being a country. Of course there are other uses for all these words, like en hiver, aller en éclaireur, frapper dans le ventre, compter sur... You'll just have to learn them on a case by case basis. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |
| anime Triglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6361 days ago 161 posts - 207 votes Speaks: Spanish, Swedish*, English Studies: German, Portuguese, French, Russian | Message 4 of 4 22 August 2013 at 10:43pm | IP Logged |
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wow thanks a lot for explanation
1 person has voted this message useful |
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