French language Q&A Forum

Not sure who to ask this question, or if it is the wrong box.

How is that I can read French, paper, books etc, but have problems with speaking and writing the language.

I really would like an answer as my feedback is not really helpful

I’m not sure about the English “physical efforts” , in my mind “physical effort seems less difficult (to me)”

so “l’effort physique me paraît moins difficile” ?

J'ai toujours voulu être danseuse - I always wanted to be a dancer.

Please remind me why this sentence is passé composé. It seems to me that it is something that she always used to want i.e. it describes a past continuous state of mind. I understood that verbs such as vouloir (and aimer, penser, savoir etc) usually use the imparfait (unless a specific time is specified), and that if anything the case for imparfait would be strengthened by adding "toujours" which implies a habitual state. So I was wondering why she didn't say "Je voulais toujours être danseuse" instead. Thanks. 

Quite often my written answer is marked wrong simply because I failed to insert a space before punctuation.  I am trying to train myself to add the space, but it does not come naturally for me when I write in English.  Why do you insert a space before certain punctuation marks, notably exclamation, colon and question mark?  For example:  This sentence !  and This list :  and This question ?

It seems you do not insert a space before other punctuation marks, such as period or comma, for example:  

Like this,  or Like that.

Why ?

Why is the example « deux-cents » hyphenated, but « J’ai cinq cents euros. »  is not hyphenated ?  Thank you.

Hey, in this question I understand why the answer is "que," but why is "achetées" matching "les décorations" if it's preceded by "avoir" instead of "être"? 

Hi, there is a little problem because the neighbour's name is spelled "Viviane" the first time and then "Vivianne" the second time :-)

Could somebody tell me the meaning of 'les santons' in this dictée?  The sentence is; j'ai laissé la petite jouer avec les santons

Hello everyone, 

I was wondering if this sentence must always be written in this Order: 

François, dont j'ai rencontré la femme le mois dernier.

The lesson says that there are cases in which we find the possession separated by a verb, but there is no explanation about whether that is a rule that must always followed or is another way of expressing things.

Is it correct to write it like this?

François, dont la femme j'ai rencontré  le mois dernier.

Thanks!

Regarding Cathy's question, the two following answers were accepted as being correct with both là  and y replacing 'dans une clairière'. The first was the answer given by KWIZIQ as the first choice.

1. je me repose là pendant quelques minutes. 

2. je m'y repose pendant quelques minutes.

 I understand that y can replace 'dans + place',  and I often read that y and là have different meanings, but have never found a clear explanation as to when you 'can' use one or the other when referring to a place.

I would really appreciate someone explaining to me why both are correct.