darkweasel:
Now you need to find out the order of this phrase. Look into your grammar book and find out that the word order is je ne le lui peux pas donner (I not it to him can not give). What a simple language.

In french: "Je ne peux pas lui donner."

Continuum:

darkweasel:
Now you need to find out the order of this phrase. Look into your grammar book and find out that the word order is je ne le lui peux pas donner (I not it to him can not give). What a simple language.

In french: "Je ne peux pas lui donner."

Ah, yeah, I was unsure if the objects are supposed to be before the conjugated verb or the infinitive. And it seems that even you try to avoid awkward le lui donner constructions.

Lol. I need to upgrade my english. I have not a clue to how grammar works...yet this is the only language I am fluent in.

That is a remarkable fail!

darkweasel:

Continuum:

darkweasel:
Now you need to find out the order of this phrase. Look into your grammar book and find out that the word order is je ne le lui peux pas donner (I not it to him can not give). What a simple language.

In french: "Je ne peux pas lui donner."

Ah, yeah, I was unsure if the objects are supposed to be before the conjugated verb or the infinitive. And it seems that even you try to avoid awkward le lui donner constructions.

In fact, you can say: "je ne peux pas le lui donner", but "je ne peux pas lui donner" is more common in France!
(In private, you even can say: j'peux pas lui donner.)

Continuum:
(In private, you even can say: j'peux pas lui donner.)

Yeah, but from someone like me who adds "uh" sounds after every word because they need to think of the right next word, and who never hits the right nasal (compare éteindre, entendre and étendre! This drives the hell out of me!), I think this sounds a bit weird - just like to Austrian ears it sounds weird to have someone with a French accent use dialectal expressions.

darkweasel:

Continuum:
(In private, you even can say: j'peux pas lui donner.)

Yeah, but from someone like me who adds "uh" sounds after every word because they need to think of the right next word, and who never hits the right nasal (compare éteindre, entendre and étendre! This drives the hell out of me!).

apologies to turn you mad with our crazy language

jan aleksan:

darkweasel:

Continuum:
(In private, you even can say: j'peux pas lui donner.)

Yeah, but from someone like me who adds "uh" sounds after every word because they need to think of the right next word, and who never hits the right nasal (compare éteindre, entendre and étendre! This drives the hell out of me!).

apologies to turn you mad with our crazy language

Nothing to apologize, it's not your fault what language evolution has done to Latin in France.

jan aleksan:apologies to turn you mad with our crazy language

apologies for turning you mad with our crazy language - I think English wins hands down

(how would French or German say "sorry for (doing something of varying regretability)"?)

For "éntendre" I'd normally say something like "etandr@" (with more 'o'ish 'a's and a schwa instead of the final @). For "éteindre" I'd say "et@andr@", would that be right or wrong? (just so I can figure out where people are coming from ).

@ Darkweasel - can we English speakers get away with "it's not our fault what happened to the evolution of French in Britannia" ?

ceigered:

jan aleksan:apologies to turn you mad with our crazy language

apologies for turning you mad with our crazy language - I think English wins hands down

(how would French or German say "sorry for (doing something of varying regretability)"?)

In German it's, just like in English, Entschuldigung für ....

ceigered:@ Darkweasel - can we English speakers get away with "it's not our fault what happened to the evolution of French in Britannia" ?

Sure.

ceigered:
(how would French or German say "sorry for (doing something of varying regretability)"?)

In French: "désolé pour"