It is not colloquial but it is far from giving those using it pretentious airs. In fact, when speaking rather formally (to employees in the administrations, to people you don’t know, etc.) it is fine to use this form, which ...
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On the construction “être / y avoir / rester + à + infinitive”
Associations EditorsCe seigneur est à la persécuter. is just a more literary way to say: Ce seigneur est en train de la persécuter. We find in Grevisse that être en train de, être à, être après à (this last one is ...
How do you explain the rationale for using “depuis” with the verb “arriver”?
Business EditorsIl existe de nombreux cas d’utilisation de cette forme dans la littérature et elle est courante dans la langue parlée mais personnellement, je ne la considère pas logique, c’est à dire que je ne devrais normalement l’employer en aucun cas ...
Conger vs Partir
Associations EditorsOne not subtle but major difference is that the verb conger doesn’t exist… I guess you are thinking about the expression prendre congé de … which is a formal way to say dire au revoir et quitter quelqu’un. e.g.: Je ...
se faire harceler vs être harcelé
Business EditorsThe turn se faire + verb is a familiar turn of phrase that can be equivalent to the passive form. It does not necessarily mean that the subject has actively caused the action to be done: Il s’est fait voler ...
How can you tell the difference between “il parle” and “ils parlent”?
Associations EditorsPhonetically speaking, you can’t tell the difference between them; they are pronounced the same. And yes, it goes for all the other verbs where the third person singular is pronounced the same as the third person plural, except in cases ...
Regarding the placeholder subject « il » in the phrase « il en arrive une nouvelle »
Business Editors“Arriver” does not usually require a placeholder subject. That’s just one possible usage of this verb, and not even the most common. You can use this construction with many different verbs. I don’t know about any list of them but ...
Pourquoi est-ce que ces verbes sont suivis de « de » et pas par « par » ?
Business Editors[Disclaimer: I am French, but I am not a French teacher] Based on my intuition, the subject is introduced by “par” when it is a person, and is introduced by “de” when it is an action. La liste de Mazet ...
Infinitive or present participle in a sentence’s object
Business EditorsIn the first sentence, the important observation is that the sheep crossed the road. What was seen is the crossing. The fact that I’ve seen sheep is (mostly) irrelevant. In the second sentence, the relevant is that the police spotted ...
The “comme pour mieux nous cacher que le logos, […], nous trahit” quandary
Associations EditorsHere, the complete fragment you are interested in is comme pour mieux nous cacher que … , meaning that the object of the verb cacher is not ourselves, but the fact that the logos fools us. The correct meaning would ...