French language Q&A Forum

'I share my apartment with five people, including one girl.'

I realise the lesson is about 'dont', but could one use 'compris' or 'y compris' instead of dont? If so, which, and would compris need an e because the girl is feminine?

Could anyone please tell me if there are any rules on if and when you can/cannot replace inanimate nouns with subject pronouns? I read the lesson c'est versus il est/elle est and thought you use c'est with nouns while il/elle est is used with adjectives. 

But I have encountered situations where the writer/speaker uses il/elle est with a noun.

For example, if you are referring to (or pointing at) "une lettre", can you say "Elle est une lettre"? Or can you only say "C'est une lettre."?

Or, if you are referring to "une conversation", can you say "Elle va bien" or can you only say "Ça va bien."? 

Thank you for any clarification. 

I see that some verbs that take de or à and the infinitive drop the preposition when an object follows the verb.  As an example, choisir de drops the preposition when referring to an object as follows:

Je choisis de partir

Je choisis la cérise

As opposed to rêver that keeps its preposition in both cases:

Je rêve de partir

Je rêve du paradis

Is there a rule for this?

How to respond to this question in negation ?

"Quelque chose te plait-il ?"

is it "Rien n'il me plait." ?

"Ginger" can be used as an insult in the UK (sadly), and some would deem it offensive.

I know that this phrase is incorrect: "Le bâtiment d'ancien où mes parents habitaient", but I also know that sometimes "de" is used with an adjective in similar phrases.

What is the rule about whether to add "de" to an adjective?