₦airaland Forum

Aren't y'all looking for good wives to marry again?

Ogamysamo:
coucou ma amie!
bon apres midi

The correct possessive adjective to use here is "mon" simply because the noun begins with a vowel sound (even though it's a feminine noun).

Again, in France and Québec, we don't use "bon après-midi" as a form of greeting when we meet someone. We rather use it when parting ways after spending some time together. It's like the English expression "enjoy the rest of your day". We also use "bonne journee" in this sense depending on the time of the day.

For example, I might enter your office and say "bonjour !" and when I'm about to leave after our discussion, I'd say "bon apres-midi !" or "bon journee !" meaning "have a great afternoon!" or "enjoy the rest of your day!"

Favorolasupo:
Can u pls enlighten us on reflexive pronouns in French sir?

OK, I'll try to give a some explanation. Then you can ask questions if you need further clarifications.

Reflexive pronouns are pronouns used to indicate that the subject of a verb is performing the verb action on itself (prenominal verbs). In other words, the subject and the object are the same. The French reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nous, vous, and se (they change to thier stressed forms when used in the imperative mode). They always agree with the subject they refer to. Think of them as myself, yourself, himself/herself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

The verb laver means "to wash" and, as a transitive verb, it normally takes a direct object which indicates what is being washed. For example, in the sentence "Je lave ma voiture", the object is "ma voiture". However, in the case where the person washing is washing himself (e.g bathing or washing a part of his body), the prenominal form of the verb is used (that is "se laver" ) and that is where the reflexive pronouns are employed.

Example:
Je me lave les main (I'm washing my hands)

In the example above, I am both the subject and the direct object of the verb laver. In other words, I'm the one washing and I'm also the one being washed!

_{Note: They're also used in passive impersonal constructions (e.g. ca se voit) but that's a bit to advanced for you, I suppose.}

So the "New Nigeria" battle has already been lost with BAT as the flag bearer? Is he saying BAT can't bring about the "New Nigeria"? On what bases is he still supporting him then? To sustain the old Nigeria till the new one is won?

Politicians just say things.

Emmyxclusive:
stop saying the invasion of Ukraine is about NATO. Putin's aim from the beginning was to go into war a grab land. He even admitted in an interview recently that he is reclaiming land like tzar Peter but since u claim u know putin's mind more than himself continue with u NATO provocation talk.

The invasion has never been about NATO. He only didn't want Ukraine to join NATO cause NATO would be in the way of his original plan which is to carve out a part of Ukraine. He invaded Ukraine half way into the NATO membership discussion/negotiations and said it was a peacekeeping mission. How people still believe this is all about NATO baffles me.

I'd like to think these barriers are more symbolic and protective.

Favorolasupo:
But is it that compulsory to place the subject before the verb?

I assume you're referring to number 3 where I added "je". That's the ideal construct if you want to write correct French. In spoken French, you'd hear " J'suis " (pronounced "shui" ) but it's always written as "Je suis".

Regarding your question, it is not compulsory to place the subject before the verb (we place the verb before the subject in interrogative sentences, remember?). The important thing to that the verb is associated with a subject regardless of where it's placed. The imperative mode is, of course, an exception.

Favorolasupo:
1. Ils meurs ici.
2.moi et toi bouillons du
igname
3.suis plus grande que toi
4.j'ai soixante million dans ma sac
5.je parle langue espagne et chine
6.Ne j'envoie pas vous

Hi Favor!

A few corrections if you don't mind.

1. Ils meurent ici

2. Toi et moi, on fait bouillir de l'igname

OR

2. Toi et moi, nous faisons bouillir de l'igname

3. Je suis plus grande que toi

4. J'ai soixante millions dans mon sac

5. Je parle espagnol et chinois

6. Je ne t'envoie pas

Ogamysamo:
spanish dance and you said we can dance it? you and who? cos me ah can't come and span my legs

back to the session.

1. il y a un train direct pour paris?

2. vous voulez acheter ma timbre?

3. je te regarde

4. ou-est que sa femme

5. q'ue-ce que je veux acheter n'est pas ici

Salut, mon pot !

Just scanning through the thread to see where I can cobtribute to the learning process and I noticed a few minor errors here.

4. Ou est que sa femme ?

5. Ce que je veux acheter n'est pas ici.

Not me trying to fast-forward a live broadcast

Ogamysamo:
we don't use french alphabet with accent, shampo and the rest, instead we use the english equivalent making it look more like english words which are not necessary in english language, words like ca va? the c is not the french form

Oh... yeah, I remember now. Funny, I once gave someone this same advice in the past. Anyway, that means I'll have to type with the English keyboard cause the French keyboard automatically inserts the accents sometimes.

Thank you, sir.

Ogamysamo:
merci monssieur. bienvenue ici

mais, nous voudrais tu ensiengn... petite francais[i had want to say we would like you to teach us small french but i don't know the us]

Favorolasupo:
I would like it if u can help us with some French..(if u don't mind)

Thanks guys.

I wouldn't want to correct everything you type. That would be boring and almost obstructive to the flow (if not outrightly discouraging). However, I'd be glad to help if there are any major translation or grammar challenges.

By the way, how do y'all type in French without getting banned by the anti-spam bot? That thing seems to have taken a dislike to me.

Favorolasupo and Ogamysamo, you guys are having so much fun, I'm almost jealous.

I used to teach French on the side when I was in Nigeria, and believe me, you guys are doing the right thing.

I sincerely wish you the best!

aurorae1:
C'est mon problème exactement. Ça fait trois mois que j'apprends le français et j'ai un niveau A2.1 à l'Institut. J'essaie de parler mais il semble que there is a stumbling block in my mind(dunno how to say this ). Second guessing and grammar hounding when it comes to writing and speaking is an issue for me... J'ai vraiment besoin d'aide, donc, si tu peux m'aider, je suis très reconnaissante. Je sais que vous n'enseignez plus officiellement mais après avoir lu entièrement le TEF thread, it'd be handy to have your help.
Merci d'avance...

Hi there!

Sorry, I've not be on Nairaland since I made the comment you quoted thus the late reply.

It seems to me that you're doing well for a beginner. You know what, scratch that. You're doing great! You just have to believe it and let your own progress be your source of motivation. Compare where you were 5 months ago with where you are now, and you'd be amazed. It's like working out, we naturally do more when we see those muscles growing. Don't beat yourself up about la pierre d'achoppement (the stumbling block), that's what makes learning fun. Having certain challenges today and overcoming them tomorrow only to face greater ones makes the learning process even more exciting and fulfilling. I speak French and while I love the language, it has become normal to me. I definitely had more fun learning it.

Like I said earlier, the secret of speaking French is speaking French. Just speak. Use overly simple grammatical constructs. Why say "stumbling block" when you can just say "blockage"? When you don't know the right way to arrange the words, confidently spit out the words that come to your mind regardless of how ridiculous they sound. And if you must, bring in English words to fill up the spaces just like you did above. The most important thing is that you keep speaking. There's something about speaking; it makes the language less of a classroom subject and more of a practical means of communication. It is not just about level. There are many great French writers who cannot boldly speak the language cause they're yet to have the courage to make mistakes. This courage can come to you at any level and the earlier the better.

Congrats.

They'll come to tell you how useless it is and even try to make you feel bad for seeking more knowledge. Don't let them. People naturally like to undermine what they can't achieve.

Ebubu:
and not New York or London ?

Surprised, right?

"Recognized by both the United Nations and the BBC as the most diverse city in the world, Toronto stands apart as a benchmark of multiculturalism. According to official data, over half of the city's residents were born outside of Canada, making it home to nationalities from around the world."

Ebubu:
what province/cities in Canada do you think are the most diverse.

Toronto is the most diverse city in the world.

WoundedLamb:
I agree. They're not totally unrelated but one shouldn't influence our judgment of the other, that's the grand point. The report originated from Canada, but like you said, vaccination or lack of it hardly comes up when discussing the war. But knowing the way things work back home, it could quickly become a vaccinated vs unvaccinated kinda stuff. Thanks for the clarification.

_{Where have you been?}

I've been busy, really. In Toronto, we live to work

How is Québec? I miss Montréal!

WoundedLamb:
The war is now about vaccinated vs unvaccinated? Lol... Most Nigerians spend so much time looking for divisive lines. They must always find a way to create demarcations even in the smallest unit of society. The herd mentality is overwhelming. Religion, region, tribe, gender, age, social class, sexuality, marital status and now vaccination. Y'all must always form herds around everything and everywhere and thereby deny yourselves the chance to be individualistic in your judgment. More than 50% of Russians are vaccinated. Even the US government does not want war with Russia. So just state your opinion without trying to form herds so that you won't end up defending another person opinion just because you're in the same herd. Don't lump up vaccination with the war in Eastern Europe. Most of you don't even have a clue what the war is about but y'all go around pitching tents based on unrelated issues.

This report does not make vaccination good or bad. It is an interesting report but does not support anything the OP wrote up there. In fact, OP didn't even draw any conclusion from the report or make any reasonable reference to it. Yet he's riding on the strength of an existing herd (pro-Russia) to fortify his anti vaccination campaign.

I agree we like moving in herds, but then again, the report also shows they might not be totally unrelated as you stated. I think the issue here is the subjectivity of the interpretation. I stay in Canada and I've not heard anyone bring up vaccination while talking about the war but the again, there's something in the report that's worth discussing provided people are smart enough not to take sides based on labels they've given to themselves.

OP, so your conclusion from this nice report is that vaccinated people want the world to end because they've realized vaccination was a mistake? And when you say vaccinated people want to bring the world to go up in flames, you mean they're doing this by asking Russia to stop the war in Ukraine? So what about the unvaccinated people? They want the Russian army to remain in Ukraine so as to save the world? And the vaccinated Russians are brainwashed by CNN, I guess.

You see, there might some interesting takeaways from this report (e.g. vaccinated people have more trust in the government's ability to do the right thing). But like someone already pointed out, it does not support the theories you have up there. Not even the US nor any Western country wants WW3 cause we all know the West will lose more even if the win the war in theory. Saying vaccinated people want the world to burn down is rather preposterous. And insulting or calling anyone with a contrary opinion brainwashed is ridiculous. Regardless of where you get your own news from, we all have access to it too. So people decide what to believe just as you did too. It's up to you to defend yourself, but you can't do that by fighting your audience.

#SayNoToWar

IamAsiri:
Just referring to his attached picture.

Ok.

immortalcrown:
Once a part of a sentence is improper, that part is wrong. Once that part is wrong, that part is grammatically incorrect. Any form of phrasing that makes comprehension of a sentence difficult is grammatically wrong. Any sentence that disobeys any grammatical rule is incorrect. Rules of concord are many. Singular nouns for singular verbs and plural nouns for plural verbs are not the only grammatical rules.

Bro, calm down a learn, okay? An ambiguous sentence is not grammatically wrong. It can be and should be avoided cause it leads to confusion if there's no enough context to decipher the right meaning (in most cases, the right meaning could easily be deciphered by considering the surrounding sentences). But it is not grammatically incorrect. The sentence in question is correct. I'm (was) a language teacher myself. Though it's French I teach, the concept remains the same. This is an open-and-close discussion, bro. No need to prolong it any further.

Peace!

IamAsiri:
You want to give birth to urgent 2k? Was it not someone that gave birth to Okonjo Iweala?

Bannies are little girls... not your urgent 2k or whatever that is.

Michelle55:
A boy and a girl! One is cooking in the oven already!

Congrats.

Kaysalas:
Merci Monsieur,
Self study mostly and a few tutors here and there over a year and half now.

Awesome. When you're learning something just cause you love it, it flows better. Many people have started learning the language cause it boosts thier economic migration profile. However, they're under pressure to get to the level accepted by Canada and France and this could be frustrating. Of course, you can always leverage your French language skills to relocate if you have the other requirements but the fact that you just love the language makes it a bit easier.

You can send me a pm. I'm not a teacher but I could add to your francophone network. The only rule is, no English.

WoundedLamb:
Two important things:
1) For the sake of your mental health, don't give yourself excuses for treating her the way you did. Saying things like "I only wanted her to braze up", "that's just who I am", etc. might make you feel better temporarily but the guilty conscience will always come back.
2) Your attitude after the apology is more important than the apology itself. Anybody can apologize but it takes a genuine heart to make changes.

Say no more!

Kaysalas:
Salut monsieur, j'espère que vous allez bien. SVP, je voudrais améliorer mon français orale. Je sais que vous n'enseignez plus selon votre phrases ici mais comment voulez-vous m'aider?

Hi!

Your French is great! You probably just need a friend or an acquaintance that understands the language so that you both can make it a point of duty to always speak to each other in French. That way, you'd get used to speaking it.

It's important that you don't bother about errors while speaking. Focus on communicating and just speak with all your errors. The main reason many people write good French but cannot speak the language is the misconception that they need to be error free. Thinking about grammatical accuracy while speaking will only inhibit your progress. As an instructor, I know when to correct my students and when to leave them to just flow despite thier errors. The flow is important. Errors will naturally reduce as time goes by.

One more thing, speaking fast is not necessary. Your goal is not to speak fast but to speak and understand the language. With time, you'd organically start speaking the language just as fast as you speak English. And also, try to get your pronunciations right but don't bother so much about accent. Our accents are part of our identity.

The grand point here is, don't think about it, just speak!

May I ask how you learned the language?

This is only reason Nigerians have not turned Facebook to another toxic place like Nairaland. It might seem unfair sometimes, but it's mind settling to note that you're not particularly targeted.

tnerro1:
The woman that opened the gates of Europe for refugees from the Arab world.

Hope they are enjoying it now

I don't think you know much about refugee issues in Europe.

Jemerson:
Merkel has tried

She has completed her term. So much happened during her tenure. She has tried for Germany.