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Question:

As shown in the following two sentences, normally I don't start the sentence with "De"

Beaucoup d’employés sont en vacances pendant l'été, donc nous avons donc décidé de reporter la réunion.

Plusieurs employés sont en congé durant l'été, donc nous avons décidé de reporter la réunion.

Can we remove "De" from the following sentence, which I saw in my text book?

De nombreux employés sont en congé durant l'été, donc nous avons décidé de reporter la réunion.

Thank you.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

That is a very good question, and one that I had not thought about before! "Nombreux" will always take "de" when it is followed by a noun. We cannot remove the "de." "Plusieurs" and "certains" will not take "de." The reason, I believe, is that these expressions of quantity denote an undetermined quantity. We do not know how many "plusieurs" is (several, but how many? A lot, few?). "Certains" is the same. E.g., "Certains livres sont bons." We do not know how many, which kind, which language they are written in etc.

On the other hand, "Beaucoup de," "peu de," "assez de" are expressions of quantity that give us more information: a lot, a little, enough etc. "Nombreux" also is similar, meaning a lot, numerous. Therefore, "nombreux" will always take "de" before it, when followed by a noun.

Antipas

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Question:

I saw the following sentences in a text book:

Paul est quelqu'un d'intelligent.

Marie est quelqu'un d'intelligent.

- Ces pronoms sont invariables.

Does it mean that "quelqu'une" doesn't exist?

Can we say "Marie est quelqu'une d'intelligente?"

Thank you.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

Indeed, "quelqu'un" is invariable, regardless of the gender of the person it is qualifying."Quelqu'une" does not exist today as a pronoun in every day language. Officially, it does, but it is a very literary form and is hardly used today in modern language. You may come across that form in older pieces of literature. You must say, "Marie est quelqu'un d'intelligent." In this construction, the adjective is always in the masculine singular form, regardless of the gender of the person.

Quelqu'un can also be used as a subject. Example: Quelqu'un qui vient chez moi n'aura pas faim (Someone who comes to my place will not go hungry).

However, "quelques-uns" et "quelques-unes" do exist, also as pronouns, but always in the plural form. For example, it can be used by itself:

Tu as acheté des oranges? Oui, quelques-unes.

Quelques-uns de nos camarades de classe viennent chez nous ce soir.

Antipas

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Question:

For the sentence "Le présent manuel traite de divers moyens auxquels vous pouvez avoir recours pour rendre votre bureau plus sain pour l'environnement.", may I replace "auxquels" by "à qui" or other pronom relatif?

So far I only learned pronoms relatifs: qui as sujet, que for COD, and dont for COI, and I guess auxquels is also a pronom relatif.

Thank you.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

"Auxquels" is indeed a pronom relatif, a contraction of à and lesquels.

"à qui" is used to replace a person or persons. For example, C'est la personne à qui je parle.

You could use "à quoi" to replace "auxquels" in your sentence, but it is more informal and used more in speaking. In a more formal or official context, "lequel" and its various forms would be better to use.

"Lequel" and its different forms (auquel, à laquelle, auxquels, auxquelles, duquel, de laquelle, desquels and desquelles) can be used to replace both persons and objects. For example, C'est la personne à laquelle je parle. Or, "c'est le livre auquel je fais allusion," or "c'est le livre duquel je parle" (it's the book that I am talking about"). You could also say: "C'est la personne à qui je parle," or "C'est le livre de quoi je parle."

By the way, "dont," which you referred to, is a pronom relatif, meaning "of which, of whom, whose," and can be used to replace both persons and objects. Thus, "dont" can generally be used interchangeably with "duquel" and its various forms. In fact, there are three different ways of saying "This is the book that I am talking about:

1. C'est le livre duquel je parle.

2. C'est le livre de quoi je parle.

3. C'est le livre dont je parle.

Antipas

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Question:

Would you kindly confirm:

"prises" in "á des fins de prises de décisions" is a nom.

"prendre" in "avec le but de prendre des décisions" is a verbe.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

Indeed, "prises" is a noun. "Prendre" is a verb.

Antipas

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Question:

I saw the phrase "á des fins de prises de décisions" in some sentence. It could be translated as "for decision-making purpose".

Does the singular form "á de fin de prise de décision" exist? If it exists, does it have the same meaning?

Thank you.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

"à des fins de" is an expression that is always used in the plural form. In English, we would translate this expression as "purposes," in your phrase "decision-making purposes." In English also, "purposes" is in the plural form.

If we wanted to use a word in the singular form, we would have to change the word. We could use, for example, "but" or "objectif." Thus, we could say: "avec le but de prendre des décisions," or "avec l'objectif de prendre des décisions." This would translate into English as "with the purpose, or goal of decision-making." "Purpose" in English here is also in the singular form.

Antipas

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Question:

In the following sentence

Aider les organismes gouvernementaux de réglementation à tirer le maximum des nombreuses normes et possibilités en matière d'évaluation de la conformité qui leur sont offertes est l'une des tâches du Conseil canadien des normes.

For the verb "se offrir", I guess leur is "pronom possessif" of aux organismes, but may I know qui is "pronom"of which words?

How to write the main sentence at present tempt and without qui and leur?

Thank you.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

Actually "leur" here is a pronom d'objet indirect (indirect object pronoun), meaning "to them," that is to " les organismes gouvernementaux de réglementation." It is not a pronom possessif in this context. In other contexts, it could be a pronom possessif. When it is a pronom d'objet indirect, it always

immediately precedes the verb, as in this case. When it is a pronom possessif, it always immediately precedes a noun. For example, "Tu vois leurs enfants? Ils sont sympathiques!

"Qui" here is a pronom relatif (relative pronoun) of the noun expression " des nombreuses normes et possibilités en matière d'évaluation de la conformité." A pronoun, by definition, always replaces a noun, and in this case, being a relative pronoun, it functions as a subject. In other words, it is doing the action of offering. "Qui," as a relative pronoun, always joins two sentences or two clauses (each one having a verb) together, replacing the subject of the second sentence. For example: "Le chien traverse la rue. La rue est large." To join these two sentences, we would use "qui" to replace "La rue" of the second sentence. Thus, "Le chien traverse la rue qui est large."

By the way, in this sentence, the verb is "offrir" and not "s'offrir" which is a verbe réfléchi (reflexive verb). Also, the sentence is already in the present tense, even though the participe passé (past participle) "offert" is used. The hint is the verb "sont" which is the present tense of "etre." So in English, it would translate to "are being offered."

The main sentence, without "qui" and "leur," would in effect become two sentences. "Qui," as already pointed out, joins two sentences together.

Therefore, the two sentences, without "qui" and "leur" would be:

1. Aider les organismes gouvernementaux de réglementation à tirer le maximum des nombreuses normes et possibilités en matière d'évaluation de la conformité est l'une des tâches du Conseil canadien des normes.

2. Des nombreuses normes et possibilités en matière d'évaluation de la conformité sont offertes aux organismes gouvernementaux de réglementation.

If you look at the two sentences closely, you will notice that each sentence has a main verb that is doing the action ("est") in the first one, and "sont offertes" in the second).

Antipas

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Question:

Would you mind to teach me why "prière" is used in the following sentence? Why they don't use "priez"?

Si cette interruption a une incidence sur vos opérations et ne peut avoir lieu à cette date, prière de nous informer le plus tôt possible en nous faisant parvenir un courriel.

Answered by brother Antipas Desai

The verb "prier" can also be used. For example, in the sentence that you gave me, they could say: "Nous vous prions de nous informer..." Both forms are correct.

"Prière de" can be considered more formal. In this construction, there is no verb that is conjugated, as in the case of "nous vous prions." Rather, the noun form of the verb "prier" is used, which is " prière" which means literally "prayer" in English, followed by the preposition "de," followed by the verb in the infinitive (in this case "informer"). It is a more formal way of requesting someone to do or not do something, usually in business settings.

Often, in public places such as airports, train stations, metro stations etc., most of the signs requesting the public to do or not do something use " prière de." For example:

Prière de ne pas fumer.

Prière de jeter des déchets dans la poubelle.

Prière de tirer la chasse d'eau (Please flush the toilet).

It is also a more concise way of announcing something. Fewer words are used!

Antipas