Les cloches sont passées
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
AndrewKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Les cloches sont passées
Les cloches sont passées ce matin pour apporter les œufs de Pâques.
The bells passed this morning to bring the Easter eggs.
HINT: (In France, it's bells that bring the Easter eggs, not a bunny!)
Is this expression idiomatic as the rules above dont seem to apply or have I missed something? Thanks.
This question relates to:French lesson "Passer can be used with avoir or être in Le Passé Composé... and changes meaning"
Asked 4 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Andrew !
No, here it's the case of passer meaning "to pass by", it's simply not followed by a prepositional group, but used on its own as an intransitive verb.
ps: Look also at the meanings implied by the auxiliaries être or avoir :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
AndrewKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Yes!!! That's great... that's what I hoped it meant!! (Or should that be "that's what I hoped it HAD meant??") LOL. Thanks.
Penny Kwiziq community member
Forgive me for being irritated and not grateful for the information that passer in the context of Easter eggs and bells contains the preposition. I had read the rule about when to use être or avoir with the verb passer and thought I had applied it correctly. If your Hint could mention that passer in this context means passed over or by or whatever the bells do that would be much appreciated.
Andrew asked:View original
Les cloches sont passées
Les cloches sont passées ce matin pour apporter les œufs de Pâques.
The bells passed this morning to bring the Easter eggs.
HINT: (In France, it's bells that bring the Easter eggs, not a bunny!)
Is this expression idiomatic as the rules above dont seem to apply or have I missed something? Thanks.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level