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Which French corrections are right? | ||
Tags: French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4473 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes  Speaks: English*, German | Message 1 of 6 30 March 2013 at 7:57pm | IP Logged | ||
On the Language 8 and on Conversation Exchange web sites, I posted an essay in French. In it I wrote the following two sentences:
It got corrected by one person at Lang 8 and one person at Conv Exchange. They both agreed that "là" in the first sentence needed to be changed to "là-bas." However, the Conv Exchange person changed "l'anglais" to "l'Anglais" and "l’espagnol" to "l’Espagnol." The Lang 8 person left it as is. Who's right? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4773 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 2 of 6 30 March 2013 at 8:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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You were right on this one, "espagnol" isn't a proper noun and should therefore not have its first letter capitalized.
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| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4473 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes Speaks: English*, German | Message 3 of 6 30 March 2013 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||
Okay, thanks. I thought so because I remember reading in a grammar book about it. Now the question is about how to point this out to her without insulting her. I've never lived in France and am therefore not as in tune with its culture as I am with that of Germany. Is she going to be insulted if I point out, "Actually, I believe you're incorrect on this one. Here's why ...." I know in Germany it would be no big deal. They tend to be very to the point and don't need the subtle protections of people's feelings that we sometimes need in the US (to the point where it at times gets silly). This is a person I've corresponded a lot with. She's helped me immensely. She even sent me some French comic books, and I sent her a DVD and a play script. We Skype one another to practice each language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4773 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 4 of 6 31 March 2013 at 10:00am | IP Logged | ||
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You can either consider it isn't important and overlook these mistakes - she's not the only one making them after all -, or try and be a diplomat and tell her. She might be happy to learn that, since she's not a native French speaker herself. Edited by FELlX on 31 March 2013 at 10:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4473 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes Speaks: English*, German | Message 5 of 6 31 March 2013 at 10:05am | IP Logged | ||
She is a native French speaker. She's from France. I decided to diplomatically tell her. I found this link: http://french.about.com/od/mistakes/a/francais.htm It says that it's a rule that even some native speakers get wrong. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4773 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 6 of 6 31 March 2013 at 11:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, and I agree with it. As said on this topic, a few aspects may be overlooked by natives.
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