Les Prépositions (sur/dans/avant/derrière)

Shrey R.A1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Les Prépositions (sur/dans/avant/derrière)

Bonjour Madame Cécile !

The lesson states that when talking about “time”- ‘avant’ and ‘après’ are used.

Now, if a sentence is -> 

1.Mon chien court ______ le petit chat. 

I think here, the answer should be “après” (after) because in English too, we say- The cops ran after the thief. But, why is the answer “derrière” ?

2. Regarde le bel oiseau perché ________ cet arbre ! 

Why is “sur” correct ? I had opted for “dans”. How can we judge the difference between “dans/sur l’arbre” ?

3. On admire les grands palmiers ________ l’île.

Again, here the answer is “sur” ? The other options- “dans/à” are not acceptable. What is the grammatical concept behind this?

Je vous remercierais du fond de mon cœur.

Bonne journée!

Asked 4 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Shrey,

1. I agree that the expression,  'courir après' (to chase ) would be plausible here 

It might be a good idea to repost this via your Report it button on your correction board to take a look at your query. 

2. the expression is 'être perché sur', simply, in the case of birds.

but you could say-

Le chat est dans l'arbre

3. Here it is just 'sur' ( on), rather than 'dans' ( inside)

If it is any consolation, prepositions are difficult to get right and I still make prepositions mistakes in English!

For future reference, I applaud you for asking questions on the same subject today as sometimes it takes too much time to answer your multiple grammar queries in one single question...

Hope this helps!

 

Shrey R. asked:

Les Prépositions (sur/dans/avant/derrière)

Bonjour Madame Cécile !

The lesson states that when talking about “time”- ‘avant’ and ‘après’ are used.

Now, if a sentence is -> 

1.Mon chien court ______ le petit chat. 

I think here, the answer should be “après” (after) because in English too, we say- The cops ran after the thief. But, why is the answer “derrière” ?

2. Regarde le bel oiseau perché ________ cet arbre ! 

Why is “sur” correct ? I had opted for “dans”. How can we judge the difference between “dans/sur l’arbre” ?

3. On admire les grands palmiers ________ l’île.

Again, here the answer is “sur” ? The other options- “dans/à” are not acceptable. What is the grammatical concept behind this?

Je vous remercierais du fond de mon cœur.

Bonne journée!

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