Le Café des flamants roses has a small garden where people can talk English to ask questions about what is being said in French in the café

You did ! ✔️

Oh I get it, preservatives , ie contraceptives and our British jams are full of them? Ha ha embarrassing indeed.
I am just thrilled I got the joke. That is, unless I didn’t.

Maybe I posted on the wrong thread..
Quote Lucca Wed 04-Aug-21 12:22:07
Ellianne
Certainly don't mention préservatifs. I came unstuck there once. blush

I was once told of a lady who wished to compliment her hostess at breakfast time and exclaimed “oh Madame votre confiture est si bonne ! en Angleterre la confiture est pleine de préservatifs “

I notice that Antonia used

jardin potager,

and Google translate gives

vegetable garden

So I tried

jardin légume

and Google translate gave

vegetable garden

but when I swapped languages, Google translate gave

potager

for both.

So can both be used, but maybe potager is more typically used, and is the word 'jardin' in

jardin potager

unnecessary yet harmless?

Thank you all.

So I needed to relearn the imperfect of -ir verbs.

I hope those two are regular.

www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/regular-ir-verbs/

grammar.collinsdictionary.com/french-easy-learning/the-imperfect-tense

So I now have:

Ce matin, je suis allé au jardin où j'ai coupé des rosiers qui envahissaient le trottoir public.

So, back to the café, having taken on board the advice.

10:35Ellianne
So, in order to improve actualconservation, rather than je je je, try developing other peoples' posts like asking Molly whether the piscine is open air or whether the gardens have yielded well this year. It helps to use other forms than je all the time.

I posted this in the wrong thread. It should be here.

You could use a different word like s’étalent but I don’t see a problem with ‘sur’. I had reason to complain earlier in lockdown, that
“Les buissons envahissent le trottoir public!”
It didn’t leave much room to walk. Your roses don’t sound quite so overwhelming.

The tip is not to fret over tricky prepositions. Just choose a different verb like "envahir" or "recouvrir" which does away with the need.

In the café this morning, I have posted the following.

Ce matin, je suis allé au jardin où j'ai coupé des rosiers qui poussaient sur le trottoir public.

Allez au café-jardin s'il vous plaît.

I tried to write it in French as best I could and then I used Google translate to try to improve it and to help with the vocabulary.

Yet I had a problem that I could not resolve, so I write here to seek advice please.

I wanted to say that the rose bushes were over the public pavement, but Google translate will only give me 'sur' and that translates back to English as 'on'.

So how can I express that the rose bushes were growing over the public pavement not on it please?

I also use linguée on line quite a bit, which is good for phrases in different contexts.
Me too Mamie. Lots of examples.

I think Google translate has improved MawBe. If I have some lengthy text to get through, I quite often use it for a rough draft and then correct it. My U3A students (French) did some work on it last year and thought that overall it was not often actually far wrong, but not always how they would say things.
Dictionaries are fine, but not much fun if you are getting to grips with lots of technical language (the manual for our new oven springs to mind). I also use linguée on line quite a bit, which is good for phrases in different contexts.

Do not use Google translate - except just possibly if you don’t have a dictionary.
As well as a good sized Collins or Harper, I would recommend a Petit Larousse (far from “petit!) and my favourite Bénac’s Dictionnaire des Synonymes

The thread went dormant from Thursday until Monday.

A case history of my post in the café this morning.

I started by writing, in Google translate as follows, as if it were French in Google translate.

So i tried to write in French as much as I was able without a dictionary.

Ce matin pour le petit déjeuner j'avais le meme repas except que j'avais les deux sachets ici instead des trois que j'avais yesterday.

I then swapped French and English in Google translate.

I knew that I needed an e circumflex but just put meme as I thought it was easier to let Google translate insert it.

I used three English words as I did not know the French, or had forgotten.

So I then got the following at the left,

This morning for breakfast I had the same meal except that I had the two sachets here instead of the three I had yesterday.

with the French,

Ce matin pour le petit déjeuner j'ai pris le même repas sauf que j'ai eu les deux sachets ici au lieu des trois que j'avais hier.

So I got the accent, sauf, au lieu, hier.

Yet I also got some other changes.

Back to English and I added the word 'listed'.

Then back to French to get the result that I am using.

Ce matin pour le petit déjeuner j'ai pris le même repas sauf que j'avais les deux sachets listés ici au lieu des trois que j'avais hier.

Quite why the j'ai eu came and went I do not understand.

No need to be sorry, the discussion goes back and forth.

Welcome.

Oh I’m sorry everyone, I’ve just realised that I’ve posted (late) from the last page I had open on this thread, and that the conversation has moved on! Oh I really do need to keep up… there seem to be new threads all over the place… mind you, my use of the passé historique is so atrophied I’m sure that I’m beyond help, at this point!

Did a degree four decades ago and to my shame didn’t use it much, though I kept a lifelong love of French and was delighted to move out there nine years ago… it all came flooding back very rapidly, and although I had to move back to the UK two years ago, it was the best thing I ever did. I miss it almost on a daily basis. It’s such a delight to follow this thread, and the main café!

I’m more than happy for my sloppy grammar to be corrected! Elliane I’d love to see any good reminders of the subjunctive. Most of my French is almost instinctive, spoken without thinking, and I do love to use the subjunctive as I find it such an elegant form of language. However I know that my reliance on past fluency and terrible laziness opens me to some silly errors. The daftest ones are usually when I suddenly hesitate and wonder if it’s le ou la that I need, but that’s more about my age I think ?

Marydoll

Callistemon

ElderlyPerson

MawBe

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

Cabbie21

I sometimes forget which thread I am in and use the wrong language.

The thread titles are too similar.

They are deliberately similarly named so that the concept is clear that they are related to each other.

Yes but they both start the same so it’s easy to click on the wrong one. But never mind, just my opinion.

Your opinion is valued.

I wonder how many levels of quote stacking or whatever it is called this message system can handle!

Not just the system EP - my brain! ??

It is rather pretty though.

It has a pleasing symmetry

...and multiple shades of grey into the bargain. Now that is pleasing.

Not yet Fifty Shades though ?

Callistemon

ElderlyPerson

MawBe

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

Cabbie21

I sometimes forget which thread I am in and use the wrong language.

The thread titles are too similar.

They are deliberately similarly named so that the concept is clear that they are related to each other.

Yes but they both start the same so it’s easy to click on the wrong one. But never mind, just my opinion.

Your opinion is valued.

I wonder how many levels of quote stacking or whatever it is called this message system can handle!

Not just the system EP - my brain! ??

It is rather pretty though.

It has a pleasing symmetry

...and multiple shades of grey into the bargain. Now that is pleasing.

ElderlyPerson

MawBe

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

Cabbie21

I sometimes forget which thread I am in and use the wrong language.

The thread titles are too similar.

They are deliberately similarly named so that the concept is clear that they are related to each other.

Yes but they both start the same so it’s easy to click on the wrong one. But never mind, just my opinion.

Your opinion is valued.

I wonder how many levels of quote stacking or whatever it is called this message system can handle!

Not just the system EP - my brain! ??

It is rather pretty though.

It has a pleasing symmetry

MawBe

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

ElderlyPerson

Lucca

Cabbie21

I sometimes forget which thread I am in and use the wrong language.

The thread titles are too similar.

They are deliberately similarly named so that the concept is clear that they are related to each other.

Yes but they both start the same so it’s easy to click on the wrong one. But never mind, just my opinion.

Your opinion is valued.

I wonder how many levels of quote stacking or whatever it is called this message system can handle!

Not just the system EP - my brain! ??

It is rather pretty though.

Here we go then!

www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/1299119-Le-Caf-des-flamants-roses-has-a-covered-patio-where-both-English-and-only-very-introductory-French-are-spoken-with-an-emphasis-on-beginners-learning-French

Mollygo

Mamie that reminds me that we were taught to say, j’ai assez mangé - I’ve eaten enough rather than, je suis pleine - unless you really are expecting!

J'ai assez mangé, Mollygo

Autocorrect really doesn't like the French - it keeps changing it to unintelligible English

Mamie

One of the first things I learnt when I stayed with a French family was not to say "Non, merci, je suis pleine" when asked if I wanted a second helping.

LOL - MDR

Mamie that reminds me that we were taught to say, j’ai assez mangé - I’ve eaten enough rather than, je suis pleine - unless you really are expecting!