lizbeth

Here is a link on tips for choosing between the perfect and imperfect tenses: http://www.helium.com/tm/180934 It also deals with how the present tense is used in French to say 'I have been doing....... since/for ....(date/time).

This is a link to an article giving tips for learning the gender of French nouns: http://www.helium.com/tm/164012/english-language-comes-gender There is a list of typical feminine endings followed by a list of typical masculine endings. Examples of each are given plus exceptions where appropriate.

There again, Collins-Robert dictionary (5th edition, not the current one I know!) gives 'Je m'excuse' as 'I'm sorry', followed by one asterisk. The solitary asterisk denotes language used by all educated people in a relaxed situation but not suitable for formal occasions when you wish to impress. (For comparison, in English it gives one asterisk for phrases such as 'take it easy' or 'let's get cracking'.) I wouldn't want to be the one to deny the importance of colloquial language. I learned very formal French in England back in the sixties, and it took me a while to become familiar with everyday conversation when I went to live in France.

My conclusion is that excusez-moi is better, but je m'excuse is still correct. I just feel that it doesn't always work to translate things too literally. After all, je me suis mariée doesn't mean I married myself!

There is an interesting webpage on apologising at www.chilton.com/paq/archive/PAQ-97-283.html. It says ' "Je m'excuse", ça va, c'est correct', but does also say that "excusez-moi" or "Je vous prie de m'excuser", etc., are more polite.

Okay Domy, merci !

I've always understood that "Je m'excuse" means "I'm sorry."

If you want a grammar book, I can thoroughly recommend 'La Grammaire en Clair' by Jeremy Long and Paul Rogers (Nelson, ISBN 0174444206). It's a workbook with explanations and cartoons, lots of humour which is a thing I have never come across in other grammar books. It does help! I imagine it would be a good accompaniment to Michel Thomas CDs, which focus on spoken language.

If you're apologising for taking up someone's time or having interrupted them, you could say "Je m'excuse de vous avoir dérangé."

No, there are no future forms of the subjunctive. You can use the present subjunctive instead.

Hi Gail He would be a PE and sports teacher. I'm pretty sure EPS stands for education physique et sportive.