Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 HelloIf I want to say :They would not give me a car = Ils ne me donner pas une voiture .Which tense of donner would I use? Is it the perfect or imperfect ? I think its donnaient. Does that look right ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Hi Pads,I think it's the conditional tense. ' ils ne me donneraient pas une voiture ' Ysatis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 Thanks Ysatis now I have looked up what conditional means [;-)] I think you might be right So :Ils ne me donneraient pas une voiture = They would not give me a car Ta lass[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 YsatisDon't you have to say "pas de voiture"? Isn't it always de after pas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 but they did = mais ils ???? which tense am I looking for here ?[:(]God you can tell I have been away from my books for 2 weeks sweet 17 I havnt heard that before are you sure ? [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Hi Sweet 17, I'm not too sure, I think some verbs are followed by either de or à, depending on the context, and some verbs don't need to be followed by anything. But not sure about donner, I'll have a look in the dictionary. Ysatis.PS, I'm still only a learner and may have things wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boiling a frog Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 [quote user="sweet 17"] YsatisDon't you have to say "pas de voiture"? Isn't it always de after pas?[/quote] Correct After ne........pas any idefinite artice (un(e) du de la des ) preceding a direct object becomes de.Where un(e) appears before a direct object after ne...pas it means not one ,rather than not a .So you would be saying They would not give me one car You could say Il n'a pas voulu me donner de vouture He wouldn't give me a car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 [quote user="Pads"]but they did = mais ils ???? which tense am I looking for here ?[:(]God you can tell I have been away from my books for 2 weeks sweet 17 I havnt heard that before are you sure ? [8-)] [/quote]Any ideas on this bit ? [:)]I have just looked back through my past home works and I see a bit about de after ne ... pas . thanks for spotting that S17[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Thanks for that Boiling a Frog. I think I need to do a bit of revision on negatives...just when you think you've sussed it. [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 I think it will depend on what follows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 It ends there I was worried they would not not give me a car, but they did . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Well, (I think) it will be the perfect tense, because it's a completed action. 'mais ils ont fait' Pleeaaasssse tell me I got this one right. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 Thats what I finally worked it out to be so I think we have [;-)] got it right , unless any one knows different ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 [quote user="Pads"]Thanks Ysatis now I have looked up what conditional means [;-)] I think you might be right So :Ils ne me donneraient pas une voiture = They would not give me a car Ta lass[:)] [/quote]If you have a would/could/should then there is no translation for this word - you use the conditional tense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 I agree there isn't a word for 'would', but wouldn't the conditional be: 'ils pourraient = they could', (pouvoir) and ils devraient = they should / ought to, (devoir) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I wouldn't use the conditional to express "they wouldn't give me........", because "would" in this case means willingness.I'd say "ils ne voulaient pas me donner........." or "ils n'ont pas voulu me donner.......", depending on the importance of that action.You could use the conditional if the sentence was "they told me they wouldn't give me........" "ils m'ont dit qu'ils ne me donneraient pas.......". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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