26
votes
Accepted
"Nous on sera les bons"
This is a classic case of French redundancy, and it is very common in informal speech. It serves to emphasize the importance of who is doing what.
What's confusing you is probably the lack of a ...
- 2,274
9
votes
Accepted
"Pourquoi l'hôtel est-il complet?" Why est-il and not just est?
Even though this is more or less a duplicate, I'll add an explanation that I didn't see when skimming previous answers.
The subject pronouns are clitics, which have some fascinating properties but ...
- 19.2k
9
votes
"Nous on sera les bons"
Dislocation is a very common process in spoken french; it's probably more common in the singular 1st and 2nd person. We can have both dislocation toward the end of the sentence or the front, as is the ...
- 17.3k
8
votes
Accepted
La virgule entre sujet et verbe est-elle vraiment incorrecte ?
En cherchant à répondre à cette question, je suis tombé sur un article très intéressant : La virgule entre sujet et verbe : petite histoire d'un emploi oublié, par Jacques Dürrenmatt (in l'Information ...
- 927
7
votes
Accepted
Where's the subject in "Le jour qui se rêve."
I think there are two concepts that you need to understand: the usage of qui and the meaning of the reflexive.
The relative pronoun qui replaces a subject that has already been mentioned when that ...
- 86
6
votes
"Nous on sera les bons"
Nous on sera les bons
This is a mistake in french that many people say, it is just a repetition that isn't supposed to be there. You are right, we should use
Nous serons les bons
EDIT
However, ...
- 358
5
votes
« En tant que » quel sujet ?
Cette faute de syntaxe (parfois un effet de style chez certains écrivains) s'appelle une anacoluthe : le début de la phrase est suivi d'une construction qu'on n'attend pas.
Il s'agit d'une anomalie ...
- 1,074
5
votes
Why would you talk about people as if they were an object (c'est un/une...)?
In this sentence, it is not correct to translate “c'est” by “it is”. The pronoun ce is neutral when it is part of the triptych celui/celle/ce (plural ceux/celles — there is no neutral plural). In this ...
5
votes
Why would you talk about people as if they were an object (c'est un/une...)?
Indeed, it is a richness of our marvelous language :). C' (for Ce) is neutral and you can use it to represent almost everything cited in a preceding sentence (or everyone, Laurent in your case):
C'...
- 1,458
4
votes
Accepted
Is “Il me fait faire attention” correct?
To use this construction without a pronoun you should use the following for intransitive verbs (those used without objects):
Elle fait attendre Alex depuis 30 minutes.
Elle fait sortir Pierre ...
- 30.3k
4
votes
Sujet non catégorisé
Un sujet non catégorisé, c'est un sujet dont on ne connait pas la catégorie, la nature (humain/non humain, animé/inanimé). Exemples :
Qui est grand ?
Le sujet est catégorisé. On sait que la ...
- 146k
4
votes
Why would you talk about people as if they were an object (c'est un/une...)?
I believe it's more complicated than that, and this actually goes to a similar place as the ser/estar distinction of Spanish.
It's not that French "refers to humans the same as it does objects", but ...
- 17.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Qu'est-ce que la réduplication du clitique sujet veut dire dans les phrases déclaratives ?
Ainsi, et toute une série d'autres adverbes (peut-être, aussi, du moins, à peine, sans doute, pour n'en citer que quelques uns), entraînent une inversion clitique ou complexe quand ils apparaissent en ...
- 9,709
3
votes
Do alternative questions with a full subject and no “est-ce que” sound natural?
Yes, it sounds very natural. So does the second version with dislocation.
To be clear, it is very natural oral and informal French, but would not be considered correct. The correct phrasing is "Paul ...
- 131
3
votes
Accepted
Why use « ce » in « voir c'est croire »
In a number of cases, ce is used as subject of être, preceded by a comma and with the pronominal function of repeating the real subject of the sentence (in these uses it has no English equivalent). ...
- 27.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Duplication of subject with 'eux': "Les …, eux, ont …"
This emphasizes an opposition. It is especially clear with the 3rd example, where the British are opposed to the French.
For instance, the last example implies that while the big ones go through the ...
- 46
3
votes
"Nous on sera les bons"
"Nous on sera les bons" is a very common way to tell, especially from a group of kids splitting before starting some game, "Our side, we are going to be the good guys". Technically, the grammar rules ...
- 146k
3
votes
Le sujet d'une construction impersonnelle est-il toujours 'il' ?
Dans la phrase C'est dommage, le pronom ce fait référence à un fait connu, on ne peut pas remplacer la phrase par Il est dommage sans devoir la compléter par une explication donc ce n'est pas une ...
- 146k
3
votes
Accepted
When does the past participal of a reciprocal verb agree with its subject
The reflexive pronoun is also an object. Whether it's direct or indirect depends on the verb.
Elles se sont rencontrées.
Because you rencontrer quelqu'un, COD.
Elles se sont parlé.
Because you ...
- 19.2k
2
votes
Is “Il me fait faire attention” correct?
If you are only 2 subjects (Alex and her), where Alex is waiting for her for 30 minutes, or Alex has been asked to wait for her, the sentence is simple :
Elle fait attendre Alex depuis 30 minutes
...
- 5,951
2
votes
Accepted
Accorder, sujet ou COD ?
Pas d'accord, parce que le verbe est conjugué avec avoir. On fait l'accord avec le sujet uniquement quand l'auxiliare est être.
Par contre, si vous est féminin, il y aura accord - les verbes avec ...
- 4,628
2
votes
"Nous on sera les bons"
"On" is used far more frequently in spoken french to replace "Nous" with a conjugated verb. E.g. "On y va!", instead of "Nous y allons!" which would be far too formal (using 'Nous' conveys a 'stuck up'...
- 187
2
votes
Do alternative questions with a full subject and no “est-ce que” sound natural?
Both are correct even if they are very colloquial.
As alternatives questions you could say:
If you ask him directly:
De quels fruit as-tu envie, Paul ? Il me reste une pomme et une banane.
...
- 2,229
2
votes
Accepted
Position du sujet avec le verbe « être »
Dans l'absolu, ce type d'inversion littéraire est possible et permet de mettre l'accent sur le complément.
La phrase :
Certains dangers sont dans les bois.
peut être écrite, en mettant en valeur ...
- 146k
2
votes
Why would you talk about people as if they were an object (c'est un/une...)?
PIE had personal pronouns in the first and second grammatical person, but not the third person, where demonstrative pronouns were used instead. so judge about politeness of a sentence which use ...
- 547
2
votes
Where's the subject in "Le jour qui se rêve."
Dave's answer is right. He is just missing to state that le jour qui se rêve is also a pun (and not a gimmick).
Rêver contrasts with vivre here.
We can oppose un jour qui se vit (a day to be lived/a ...
- 146k
2
votes
"X et eux" ou "eux et X"?
Dans le cas d'une combinaison avec eux: Eux et Jean n'est pas très heureux, peut-être parce qu'il y a deux voyelles en collision ou que ca sonne comme eh euh. Quelque chose cloche et instinctivement, ...
- 8,684
2
votes
"X et eux" ou "eux et X"?
Ils parlent, Jean aussi.
Eux parlent, ainsi que Jean.
Jean parle, eux aussi.
Lui et eux parlent.
- 146k
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