French language Q&A Forum

I know this lesson is about the plus que parfait but to say "had to", can you also use the passé composé? For example, he had to leave before 5. "Il a dû partir à 5 heures. 

Correction: count money

Hi. I am trying to work out why the pronoun "EN" is found in this sentence. Is it there to replace the implied "DE la soirée" as in "On était déjà à notre troisième cocktail de la soirée" ? Or am I way off track ? Thanks for shedding any light here. 

(And another thought, could it have equally been "On y était déjà à notre troisième cocktail" with the pronoun "y" used instead of "en" -  in this case to replace the implied "dans ce bar" ?)

Il est vingt-deux heures = 10 PM

Il est vingt heures deux = 8:02 PM

Just making sure.

Can I say 'il tente de parler français' instead of 'il essaie de parler français'?

Hi! Perhaps someone can clarify a problem I have in distinguishing when to use "de" versus "du".  I don't have any problems distinguishing between "du" partitive (J'ai mangé du pain) and using "de" when the sentence is negated (Je n'ai pas mangé de pain).  But in examples like the sentences I've listed from this exercise (Délicieuse Rédaction), how does one know to use "de" in "mon reste de ragoût" and "du" for "la porte du jardin"?  

Why is plus-que-parfait used in this text in phrases such as "   Sarah et moi avions loué un camping-car  .."