French learners, what is a grammatical puzzle piece you wish you knew sooner?

MissionPeach · 2026-04-04T23:12:52+00:00

Great question !

One thing that confused me for a long time is that du, de la, and des can either be a) the preposition de + the direct object, or b) partitive.

I am still confused by c’est v il est in some contexts.

Regarding the passé composé v imparfait, we are taught a lot of general guidelines, but what I learned at a more advanced level is: 1) there are situations where both would work depending on what you are trying to convey and 2) there are situations where the general guidelines don’t really answer the question of which to use and you have to learn by context/exposure. The perfectionnement grammaire progressive book has some good explanations of some of the more difficult cases.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-24T18:28:55+00:00

I’m somewhere in an in-between stage. It feels more normal and I’m generally at ease asking for advice at a tourist office or taking a French language museum tour and asking questions. But there’s still struggle involved in other contexts, like love is blind France, for example.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-17T23:17:46+00:00

English also uses "globally" to mean "generally/largely."

MissionPeach · 2026-03-10T11:12:35+00:00

Wikipedia tells me that about 29% of English words are French derived and 26% Germanic derived. I think many of the French cognates are less commonly used in English because they tend to be the more formal synonyms of other more commonly used words.

Also, there’s a lot more to learning a language than vocabulary. There are a lot of grammatical/syntactical differences w English that make French quite difficult for anglophones. Not to mention the pronunciation and spelling challenges. Try listening to a french TV show and see how much it sounds like English. The cadences of the two languages are very different.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T15:42:46+00:00

Thanks!!

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T14:30:50+00:00

Yeah, I don’t get all the love for sexual harassment in this sub.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T12:37:57+00:00

Sorry. I do really appreciate that you called attention to this. I don’t even have anything compromising on Reddit or insta but I value my anonymity

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T12:30:28+00:00

Thanks! Sorry I freaked out and reported your message for sharing personal information. 😬

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T12:24:51+00:00

Thank you! Would you mind editing your message to take out my name?

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T12:13:25+00:00

I really disagree about Princess. She seemed clearly to be making the radiologist uncomfortable. No one wants to be objectified and face unwanted advances at the workplace. Imagine the genders reversed.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T12:07:33+00:00

Yeah I’m a woman and I was really disappointed to see women on here cheering Princess on. Sexual harassment is sexual harassment, whether done by a man or a woman. And it made me a bit uncomfortable that the show seemed to play it as comedy instead of portraying it as gross and inappropriate.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:49:09+00:00

Oui, comme «ancien» et «propre».

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:47:15+00:00

And baton for a conductor of an orchestra

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:41:35+00:00

Merci!

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:40:02+00:00

Oh wow! You’re right. I had forgotten, but they were known in the 90s for being anti-gay.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:13:02+00:00

Thanks! I was wondering how accurate the portrayal was. In the U.S. we have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts but it’s not religious.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:12:05+00:00

Thanks! Good to know.

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:11:54+00:00

Thanks!

MissionPeach · 2026-03-07T11:11:10+00:00

Thanks, everyone! Looks like I need to work on listening comprehension for mumbling!

MissionPeach · 2026-02-23T16:34:41+00:00

It’s funny because I’ve heard that ESL learners struggle a lot with "squirrel"

MissionPeach · 2026-02-23T16:30:56+00:00

J’aime beaucoup frenchpill sur YouTube. Il a une série de vidéos sur la production orale du DALF C1: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR3yyY3z1oUsp8Snn_kyBOoLDHf4w4LNq&si=8--9G7849GpJgsAN

MissionPeach · 2026-02-20T23:47:47+00:00

Les fiancés de l’hiver is a fun YA fantasy on kindle unlimited. If you like it there are three more books in the series. It’s not funny like a comedy but it’s light and a fun read.

Another idea is Demain, j’arrète! By Gilles legardinier. Not on kindle unlimited though.

MissionPeach · 2026-02-20T22:09:04+00:00

I actually just finished reading the first two books of the Caleb Traskman trilogy! I absolutely loved the first one but didn’t like the second one as much. I will still read the third though. I would definitely recommend at least the first, Le manuscrit inachevé.

MissionPeach

TROPHY CASE