French language Q&A Forum

When  i learned French in my youth ( I am now 91), the passe simple was called the Past Definite in English, is that still so ? We were also told that its use was confined to literature and it was not used otherwise. Is that correct ?

Why do we use "de" in this sentence and not "des"?

Why is it not “avant le dîner” in both examples? In the example with Je doit it’s just avant dîner. 

And, if a "best-efforts translation" to English were possible, would "de" represent "late OF two hours", "late BY two hours", or "late SOME two hours"?

Cheers, Alec

Quels sont les legumes de soleil ? J'ai cherche partout, mais je n'ai pas trouve cette phrase. Tous les legumes ont besoin de soleil, donc je me demande si ces legumes sont des legumes d'ete, peut-etre ? 

Merci !

Elles ne connaitront jamais mon secret is the given answer. Why will savoir in the future not do? Various dictionaries suggest they are equivalent for this kind of statement.

So in an earlier exercise, "I love swimming," you had a possible answer for fear of heights as "peur du vide" but not in this one.  Is there a reason why?