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Question regarding Flashcard screenshot of French level 3 lesson 6
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Hi,
I've sent your question to the content team, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Regards!
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Hi,
Your understanding of the conjugation of "Apporter" in the passé composé is correct, it must be:
On a apporté (when speaking informally) OR Nous avons apporté (if speaking formally or writing).
However in the phrase you're mentioning, the subject is neither "on", nor "nous", it is "le garçon du restaurant" (il). If you read the English translation, you'll see that it says:
the restaurant's waiter brought us... (and not "we brought..."), hence the conjugation in 3rd person singular here (He brought us...): Il nous a apporté...
The tricky part is that in French the object pronoun "us" is the same as the subject pronoun: "nous", AND it goes right before the verb, in the opposite position compared to English (he brought us = Ils nous a apoporté), so you have to read very carefully in this type of phrase to avoid confusions.
Hope it helps clarifying... -
@Emilie-Poyet Thank you for clarifying that. Yes I understand. You are right about having to read the English very carefully to avoid confusion. I often make this kind of mistake but usually pick it up through carefully examining the English translated into French. Level 3 is a step up and I am having to really take it nice and slow and often have to go over stuff to get it. Once again thank you. Much appreciated. A great course even though I am a bit slow at it. I started again from the beginning after taking a break but this time around things are sinking in better and I am confident to keep going. I got to the beginning of level 3 first time around and I have finally gotten past where I was second time around. It has been beneficial to go back over everything again. I am loving the learning curve. The flash cards and mp3's are a great addition as well.
