[House selling problem]

I wonder if anyone can help. SWe are trying to sell a house in the Aude depertement for about €110,000. A number of people have visited the house, liked it and were seriously considering putting in an offer. However, what has prevented them from doing so was the untidiness around the house caused by our neighbour. In the past we have been very kind to him and his family and have done him some big favours. I have written to him asking if in this case he could help us out by having a big tidy up to help us sell the house.

I am not convinced that he will cooperate either at all, sufficiently or for long enough.

What I am think is of offering him 5% of the sale receipts if he does his bit to make the house more saleable. This would then be an incentive especially as he is almost bankrupt. What are your thoughts?

Stuart

[Patchwork: Help Needed with Translation]

My wife is a very, very keen quilter and goes on day courses to a woman near Villfranche de Lauragais (near Toulouse) when we are in France. I see you are in SW France - whereabouts?

We are in the Ariège.

Stuart

[what are you reading?]

Try Marie-Paul Armand. I especially enjoyed L'enfance perdue.

Stuart

[Livret A]

Is it possible for a non-resident of France to invest in a Livret A Account?

Thanks

Stuart

[BBC iPlayer]

This may seem like a dumb question - but does the BBC iPlayer work in France so that you can see BBC programmes over the internet?

Thanks

Stuart

[Internet, television and telephone]

What problems have you had with FT and the neuf box?

Stuart

[Internet, television and telephone]

We are currently having a house renovated in a town and would like to have a phone line with internet access.

What

would you recommend? Which package? Should we also go for a package

which includes television as well? If yes then which supplier?

What pitfalls are there? How would you suggest we proceed?

Many thanks

Stuart

[Sonic mouse deterrent]

We have used these sonic devises in our house but have not been impressed by their eficacity. We also use traps and poison on a multi-front attack. However I'd say the mice are still winning.

Stuart

[French verbs conjugated by être]

Also compounds formed from the être verbs.

Stuart

[Genders again]

And saxifrage!!

Stuart

[Noisy neighbour]

I think that the behaviour of the party people was outrageous. Yes they should enjoy themselves but with due consideration and care for others. I have never understood why a party needs very loud voice - and I thought this even when I was a partying student.

[Tour de France]

Go to www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/horaire.html

[British History]

As a matter of interest how do the French go about dealing with the teaching of the events of 1940. Our French neighbours are very reluctant to talk about it and invariably change the subject when these events are mentioned.

Stuart

[Word for....]

Etang is the name for a tarn (small mountain lake)

Stuart

[Walking partners]

We have a house in the eastern part of the Aude near the Ariege and I enjoy walking and climbing in the hills and mountains. I'm looking for fellow mountaineering enthusiasts to go walking with. Any takers opr suggestions?

Stuart

[Walking Partner]

We've a house in the eastern side of the Aude and I enjoy walking and climbing in the Pyrenees and the foothills. I'm looking for people to walk with  - any takers or suggestions.

Stuart

[Canelle - A Brown Bear one year on]

Lat summer I had a fantastic day walking in the Pyrenees and saw 3 marmottes, 5 isards, and enormous vulture and a bear. Later in the day I met a sheperdess who said she'd seen a bear in the same spot 2 weeks previously. It was just below the Etang de Laurenti near Querigut and Mijanes - I was on my way to climbing the Roc Blanc. Magnificent countryside and the best day of my life in the mountains.

 

Stuart

[Future and Future Perfect forms of the subjunctive]

[quote user="beryl"]

I  would be be happy to master the present indicative, imperfect indicative, passé simple, future and conditional as that will fit every situation I can think of!

[/quote]

You need the subjunctive for the following (as very basic everyday examples)

Je pense que nous allions à Paris la semaine prochaine.

Il faut que vous mangiez des légumes.

C'est la dame la plus stupide que j'aie jamais rencontrée

Quel que soit le prix, je l'acheterai.

There are many more quite everyday instances where the subjuntive is needed. The trick is to learn a few instances where the subjunctive is needed - use them and then gradually build on them. For example start with "il faut que....." Do not expect to get it right all the time as you will almost certainly be understood - however do have the ambition to master the subjunctive.

As has been remarked - forget the passé simple. It is very rarely used in speech apart from the expression " ce fut".

We all have areas of a foreign language that we struggle with - mine is the difference betwee "il est" and "c'est".

Stuart

[Future and Future Perfect forms of the subjunctive]

The subjnuctive also exists in the  Pluperfect form although only used in literrature.

I do not think it is snobby to use the subjuctive and to restrict oneself to the present is absurd.  To claim that the French will be stunned if you use anything but the present is, in my experience, absolutely wrong. We should all be trying to raise the level of our language as high as possible and being satisfied with only one tense is a disappointing lack of linguistic ambition.

Stuart

[Very poor English]

Dear Senior Member (what on earth is a Senior Member - how does one get promoted to this elevated position?)

Pointless it is not. Clearly it has interested and inspired you sufficiently to go and look at my previous posts. I made a valid point about a piece of EXCEPTIONALLY poor English. Shouldn't we all be aiming to write as well as possible even if we do make mistakes (in my case an inappropriate use of 'their' - a point of which I was not aware)?

Are you suggesting that we should only criticize (or would you prefer criticise) if we have attained grammatical perfection? In which case criticism in any sphere would cease.

No, I am not bored as you ask.

Stuart

[Very poor English]

Cher Guillaume le Conquerant

Where is my error? I am always willing to learn, so please enlighten me.

Stuart

[Very poor English]

I had always thought that those employed by magazines would be well trained to write accurate English. So how about this example?

?What's your Motivations

Why the question mark at the start? Why does 'motivations' need a capital letter - it is not a proper noun? I don't need to tell you the other glaring error.

And where is this hideous example of the mutilation of our language to be found? The answer is the home page of this website.

Someone needs to get their act together.

Stuart

[Very poor English]

I had always thought that those employed by magazines would be well trained to write accurate English. So how about this example?

?What's your Motivations

Why the question mark at the start? Why does 'motivations' need a capital letter - it is not a proper noun? I don't need to tell you the other glaring error.

And where is this hideous example of the mutilation of our language to be found? The answer is the home page of this website.

Someone needs to get their act together.

Stuart

[Places in France to see before you die]

L'Etang de Laurenti in the Pyrenees (Ariege) - saw 3 marmottes, 5 isards, an enormous vulture and a BEAR near there this year. One of the most beautiful places on earth.

If someone can tell me how to include a picture in a message then I'll repost with a photo.

Stuart

[French Practise]

practiSe - a verb

practiCe - a noun

Therefore think the title of this thread should be French Practice.

I know you'll all appreciate this correction because this corner of the site deals with language and getting the detail correct.

Stuart