Avoir raison / tort / de la chance = To be right / wrong / lucky

Hi Almut,

Often times there are multiple correct ways to answer each question in kwiziq. However, as the lessons are designed to train a particular aspect of grammar or style, it isn't really helpful to search for alternative answers which have little to do with the lesson at hand.

In the example you provide, the lessons aimes (among other things) to train the use of "avoir de la chance". Hence a construction using this phrase is sought as the correct answer.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

I encountered this sentence in a test and had no way of seeing a connection to a particular lesson. As long as they are not downright wrong all possible answers should be accepted. Otherwise I would have to learn answers by heart and would only learn "kwiziq-French" and not real French.

I understand your frustration when, after giving a well considered and perfectly correct answer, it is marked as incorrect. Believe me, I've "been there, done that". It would, however, be nigh impossible to write a program which is smart enough to recognize all possible correct ways to answer a question. When I was marked incorrect, I read the corresponding lesson and learned what kwiziq was trying to teach me. Next time around knew what they were after.

-- Chris.

Well actually, I would not expect "a program which is smart enough to recognize all possible correct ways to answer a question" but rather I would expect Kwiziq to have *people* smart enough to recoginze correct answers and to feed a database from which the program checks the replies that users give in tests. This is actually the reason why I reported this issue - in hope it would be fed to the database. Otherwise we are backt to my point of learning "kwiziq-French" instead of real French.

I am coming at this from a different angle, Almut. You are not learning "kwiziq-French" but you are using kwiziq to focus on learning specific aspects of French. By breaking language learning down into managable, bite-sized tasks which can be learned and tested for in a comparatively short amount of time, you speed up your progress overall.

Of course, besides going through lessons and tests, one needs to read, listen to and speak French as well. And this is where all possible nuances of expressions and a feeling for their proper uses is acquired. Not during the tests, which are geared toward teaching specific grammatical topics. The kwiziq team acknowledges this by offering reading and listening opportunities as well.

-- Chris.

Hi Almut,

If I can just interject here, I have never heard anyone in France using the expression 'être chanceux' for 'to be lucky' . You will hear 'avoir de la chance' or 'avoir de la veine' (which is slang) .

I suspect 'être chanceux/chanceuse' might be the expression our French Canadian friends favour...

Hope this helps!

Bonjour Gary,
For the most part, that is correct; however, that is not how it would translate from French into English as that is the literal translation.
Another case in point is avoir + age. In English we say «I am 15 years old»; however, in French that becomes «j'ai quinze ans» ---> literally, I have 15 years. But in English we would simply state that I am 15 years old.
Bonne chance.

It is similar to J'ai faim or J'ai soif. The same grammar rule applies. The use of être changes the whole meaning of the phrase.
Regardez cela: https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/my-languages/french/view/3130

En fait, voici une autre référence de la dictionnaire Collins-Robert:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-french/lucky

Chanceuse is used by the Parliament of Canada on its website: "Certains diront qu'elle est chanceuse puisque l'attente moyenne pour une audience est de 19 mois et qu'elle a attendu neuf mois de moins que [...]", so why does KwizIQ say elle a de la chance is the only option?

Bonjour Randa,

Yes, because they're not adjectives in French - they're nouns. J'ai raison is equivalent to "I'm right" in English, but literally it means "I have reason."

Bonjour Olivia,

The expression is "avoir de la chance," as shown in the example "Nous avons de la chance." Also, J'ai de la chance, Tu as de la chance, etc.

But when you change it to a negative, "de la" changes to "de": Nous n'avons pas de chance, Je n'ai pas de chance, Tu n'as pas de chance, etc.

Here's a lesson: https://www.french-test.com/my-languages/french/view/23