French language Q&A Forum

In an exercise I should fill in the following gap:

Mon fils ________ aller aux toilettes.

I choose "envie d'" but the solution seems to be "a besoin d'". But one example in the lesson about "Avoir envie de = To feel like, want to (Avoir envie de = To feel like, want to (French Expressions with avoir))" is:

So I would like to know, if both are correct. And if not, how do I choose the right one?

Best regards,
Martin

Il ne s’occupe jamais de rien

What is the rule that requires either de or à, as seen in the above sentences?

I knew that in inverted questions you use the subjunctive after verbs like 'Pensez-vous...'  If you start the question however with 'Est-ce que vous pensez...?' does that rule about the subjunctive not apply?  I ask because I had put 'Est-ce que vous pensez que ce soit un problème structurel' and this was marked with a correction to '.......c'est' instead of 'ce soit'

I've been told by a well-trained French teacher to never begin a sentence with "cependant." He said to use "bien que." Has this rule been superseded? 

Thanks!

Kalpana

How do I know which to use? C’est or Il est ?

Hi,can anyone please shine some light on the following: " mais n'en espérait pas moins trouver queque Poisson. I think I know that it means " nevertheless hoped to find some fish" but is this a standard expression ?. Myself I would have said au moins (il) espérait trouver queque Poisson. I don't understand the rôle of the n  and moins:  it seems backwards to me, and in a way " not hoped to at least find some fish.

This question doesn't direct us to use a specific verb. It only gives us the english "to hate" so why can't we use hair? Sorry can't figure out the accents on my keyboard.

Bonjour:

Quand on peut utiliser "des" devant une chose plurielle et quand on doit utiliser "les"?

Merci,

Martin

I am trying to figure out how to say "I am good/bad at (something)" in French. There seems to be discrepancies between sources online about what prepositions to use.

For example, I searched "I am good at piano" on an online translator. It gave me many options: Je suis doué pour piano, je suis bon au piano, je suis bon en piano, and je suis doué en piano. I know that you use different prepositions depending on what adjective is used (doué vs bon), but why does this translator give so many options, and which ones are correct?

Also, for example, to say "I am bad at guitar", the translator says you can say either je suis mauvais à la guitarre OR je suis mauvais en guitarre. Which one of these is correct?

Basically, which of these prepositions (en/au/à la/pour) do you use when saying je suis nul/mauvais/bon/doué AT something?

Thank you!