Tom Au

1,030 reputation

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	location	New York, New York
	age	55
visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
	seen	May 2 at 15:54
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	1,030 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
314 badges		location	New York, New York		seen	May 2 at 15:54

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29 Comments

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Mar 20	comment	What exactly does “savoir faire” refer to? @a3nm: That's what I want to find out.
Feb 23	comment	What exactly does “savoir faire” refer to? "Savvy" can be a noun, verb or adjective in (American) English. It's a bit confusing.
Feb 23	comment	Differences in meaning depending on placement of “pauvre?” @My question was not, "can you put this adjective before or after the noun?" but "what are the differences in MEANING when you do so?" Apparently there were several "similar" questions in this regard. But they all use DIFFERENT adjectives with different meanings. Unless there is a "master list" (on this site) of such adjectives, including "pauvre," I do not consider this question a duplicate, and ask that my question be re-opened.
Nov 4	comment	Why the pronounciation of “Monsieur?” Welcome to the site. An upvote to get you going.
Nov 4	comment	Why the pronounciation of “Monsieur?” @LeVieuxGildas: I said that Monsieur was pronounced MORE LIKE [emphasis added] "Miss-sieur" (to my ear). That does not rule out your more correct transliteration, "Meussieu."
Oct 8	comment	Why do some french people inappropriately add an 'h' before English words starting with 'a' or 'e'? @Gilles: As edited, the question is clear enough. Now the issue is, "is it on topic?"
May 4	comment	Why “de” + infinitive instead of à + “-ant” in this construction? Gilles: Thank you for the correction, and your answer below. As for the headline, in my version, it was all "capitals." But this is a French translation of a novel talking about a "sensational" headline in either English or French.
Apr 28	comment	Use of “Vie sociale” I would translate "Il n'a pas de vie" (idiomatically) as, "He needs to get a life." But the translation "does the job."
Sep 7	comment	About “unusual” word order? @Axiophase: You're right if it's noun verb noun. But I was using a construction of noun pronoun verb.
Sep 6	comment	About “unusual” word order? @Evpok: I've studied Russian, German, and Latin, all of which use grammatical cases.
Sep 6	comment	About “unusual” word order? In this particular construction, yes. A more usual construction, might be "Tu m'aimes," in which case it is accusative.
Sep 6	comment	About “unusual” word order? OK, I meant the usual subject, verb, object, wecept when referring to personal pronouns, which would then be subject object verb. But manquer uses a "different" construction.
Sep 1	comment	Differences between “Oui” and “Si” in the affirmative? @Dave: I have shortened the Japanese reference, and altered the Spanish reference.
Aug 24	comment	Traduire « the other side of the coin »? @Joubarc: Not "usually," no. But occasionally it's the correct one. I was a bit surprised that this answer was so close.
Aug 24	comment	Traduire « the other side of the coin »? Close to, but not exactly the "literal" translation. Thanks.
Aug 23	comment	How to call similar words in two languages with different meanings? So noted, and corrected. Thanks.
Aug 23	comment	How to call similar words in two languages with different meanings? @zejam: I edited the question to ask for the FRENCH term, But your point is well taken.
Aug 23	comment	What are the informal uses of “voilà”? @Raphink: That may be the way it looks to a native speaker. But I'm a foreigner, see "voilà" quite a lot, and "sort of" know the answer, but that's not the same as actually knowing. And part of the question is, "are there any other common meanings that I may have missed. The references to "depuis" and "il y a" in an answer below were enlightening, at least to me.
Aug 22	comment	When would one use “à” before a verb? @Raphink: I edited the question for greater clarity. I believe such an edit allows you to remove the downvote. And an upvote to you (and the others) for your answer.
Aug 22	comment	When would one use “à” before a verb? There's an element of truth to what you say. But the question is about "English" as it affects my UNDERSTANDING of French. Apparently "to" is used differently in English than in French, which is why I was confused.