A language learners’ forum

So it seems: http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/adjectives_position.shtml.
The web page shows a few other adjectives whose meaning varies whether placed before or after the noun it modifies, ancien and cher among others.

Spanish also has the same sort of thing with a few adjectives. Do all Romance languages share this? Was it more or less pronounced in Latin?

DaveBee wrote:Duolingo explains adjectives: propre.

ma propre voiture — my own car
ma voiture propre — my clean car

I knew propre could mean 'my own'/clean. I did not know it's position relative to the noun determined the meaning.

The word propre can have some ofther meanings as well. http://www.wordreference.com/fren/propre

(At least in expressions.)

arthaey wrote:Spanish also has the same sort of thing with a few adjectives. Do all Romance languages share this? Was it more or less pronounced in Latin?

If I remember my Latin correctly, the meaning of any adjective does not change depending on its position before or after the noun. Word order in Latin was much more flexible than in the Romance languages because of the case system, and especially Latin poets would play with this to respect the various poetic meters when writing.

I've just found out that Smurfs are:

1. Belgian, not french. (I begin to see why Mrs Christie made her francophone detective Belgian, all the characters you think are french turn out to be Belgian! )
2. Schtroumpfs, not Smurfs.

The last line of Le Corbeau et le Renard inludes a 'y'.

Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus.

Does the 'y' affect the meaning, or is it there to make the line sound better?

DaveBee wrote:The last line of Le Corbeau et le Renard inludes a 'y'.

Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus.

Does the 'y' affect the meaning, or is it there to make the line sound better?

It's the archaic form of "qu'on ne l'y reprendrait plus".
So obvisouly removing the "y" changes the meaning: with it, it means that the crow won't fall again in the same trap, without it it means that the crow won't be caught/taken again (by sth/smo)

People might find this episode a good source for TV shows http://francaisavecpierre.com/apprendre-le-francais-avec-des-series-francaises/

Hi Tomgosse, Everyone,

I'm getting back into languages, and will be taking up French. I was wondering if you are still open to accepting new members? I am a total beginner - did some French back in grade school, but that's just about it. I would appreciate all the support and team spirit, that's for sure!

I will be studying a little something everyday, as I am still in school and have a pretty long and tough grad career ahead of me. As such, my updates might be irregular, but they will be there. I will also follow others as much as possible.

Thanks! It's good to be back

Woodsei wrote:Hi Tomgosse, Everyone,

I'm getting back into languages, and will be taking up French. I was wondering if you are still open to accepting new members? I am a total beginner - did some French back in grade school, but that's just about it. I would appreciate all the support and team spirit, that's for sure!

I will be studying a little something everyday, as I am still in school and have a pretty long and tough grad career ahead of me. As such, my updates might be irregular, but they will be there. I will also follow others as much as possible.

Thanks! It's good to be back

Bienvenue! Welcome to the group. I've added your name to the group. Let me know when you start a log and I'll add a link to it.

Tom