文/羊生生
Special uses of common verbs
1 Connaître / to know; to be acquainted with; to make the acquaintance of
Present:
Connaissez-vous Mme Vallois? Do you know Mrs. Vallois?
Non, je ne la connais pas. No I don’t know her.
Conditional
Mon oncle connaissait New York comme sa poche.
My uncle knew NY like the back of his hand.
Passé composé
In the passé composé, connaître can mean “to meet” or “ to make the acquaintance of”.
Mon père a connu ma mère au Luxembourg. My father met my mother in Luxembourg.
Savior and Connaître:
The main difference between the meaning of these two verbs in the sense of “to know” is that connaître means merely to be acquainted with; for example, to be acquainted with a person, a city, a neighborhood, a country , the title of a book, the works of an author.
Savez-vous la réponse?
Do you know the answer?
Savez-vous quelle heure il est? Do you know what time is it?
Connaissez-vous cette dame? Do you know this lady?
Connaissez- vous ce livre? Do you know this book?
2 devoir to owe, ought to
Present: je dois étudier. I have to study : I must study; I am supposed to study.
Elle doit être fatiguée après le marathon. She must be tired after the marathron. Or she’s probably tired after the marathon.
Mon père doit avoir cinquante ans. My father must be 50 years old.
Imperfect
Je devais étudier. I had to study; I was supposed to study.
Quand j’étais à l’école, je devais toujours étudier. When I was in school, I always had to study.
Ma mère devait avoir cinquante ans quand elle est morte. My mother was probably 50 years old when she died.
Future
Je devrai étudier. I will have to study.
Nous devrons faire le travail ce soir. We will have to do the work this evening.
Conditional
Je devrais étudier. I ought to study; I should study.
Vous devriez étudier davantage. You ought to study more.
Past indefinite
Je me suis allée au cinéma parce que j’ai dû étudier. I did not go to the movies because I had to study.
J’ai dû prendre l’autobus par qu’il n’y avast pas de train à cette heure-là. I had to take the bus because there was no train at that hour.
Robert n’est pas ici. Robert is not here.
Il a dû partir. He must have left; He has probably left; He had to leave.
Conditional perfect
J’aurais dû étudier. I should have studied!
Vous auriez dû me dire la vérité. You should have told me the truth.
With a direct or an indirect object there is still another meaning
Je dois de l’argent. I owe some money.
Je le lui dois. I owe it to him(to her).
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