Kinda hard french questions, natives only?

Question

I'm 14 and I'm learning french in school, but I'm really passionate about it so I'm speaking/reading/writing in french whenever I can. So I have some questions.

1. How can you be sure when, telling someone where you live, whether to use à, en, or dans/dans le.

Je n'habite pas à Paris. I know thats correct, but what about Je n'habite pas dans le Colorado, that's correct too.
Is it just something you have to learn and memorize, where to use à or dans/dans le/en?

Another question would be, Do Canada and French speak differently? My aunt is taking me to Canada this year, to Quebec to improve my french. I'm learning France french and not Canada french, I don't want to go there and not have them understand what I'm saying.

One more - There is so many ways to ask a question - does it really matter what you choose?

Using [qu']est-ce que, l'imperatif, or just raising your tone? Which is used more?

est-ce que tu aimes le chocolat?
aimes-tu le chocolat?
tu aimes le chocolate?

oops, up there i put do canada and french speak differently XD i meant do canada and france speak differently :P

désolée XD

so then.. I could say J'habite dans le Michigan, or J'habite au Michigan?

Answer 1

*How can you be sure when, telling someone where you live, whether to use à, en, or dans/dans le.
à + the name of your city (à Paris)
en + the name of a feminine country (en France)
au + the name of a masculine country (au Canada)
aux + the name of a plural country (aux États-Unis)
Here's a link that covers which prepositions to use with states and provinces: http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa062400s.htm

*Do Canada and French speak differently?
Yes, it's sort of like the various English-speaking regions--there are some differences (I think that le français canadien has more American English words like le breakfast), but you should be able to understand and be understood.

*One more - There is so many ways to ask a question - does it really matter what you choose?
My impression is that est-ce que is used more in speaking and subject-verb reversal is used more in writing. Raising your voice is conversational, too. Don't forget, you can also add "n'est-ce pas?" to a statement when you're just looking for confirmation: "Il fait beau aujourd'hui, n'est-ce pas?"--"It's nice today, isn't it?"

Answer 2

For the country its' :
J'habite EN france (LA France)
J'habite AU Royaume Unis (LE royaume unis)
J'habite AUX etats unis (LES etats Unis)
For the rest...It depends if it's a city, a department, ...
We said : "J'habite à Paris" (City) ; "J'habite en Normandie"; "J'habite dans le Gers". (Both are used for departement ... but i can't explain why you use one more the other...

In Canada, they speak english and french (quebec)
the language it's the same, but not for the acccent and some words. It's like the difference between english from UK and english from USA.

For the questions, each form is correct! : you can say :
Est-ce que tu aimes le chocolat?
Aimes-tu le chocolat?
Tu aimes le chocolat?

I hope it can help you...

Answer 3

Hey, you are doing fine.
Quebec vs. France: A little experience, I had when I first came to Canada. Mind you I am fluent in French, the French French version.
I visited Quebec and, as I normally do, I wanted to converse in the language of the land. However, I found that most French Canadians reacted absolutely negative to my attempts. Why?
They thought I made fun of their patois with my clean and unadulterated French. Don't try to confuse your French!

Answer 4

An exception to the excellent 'j'habite . . .' answers given to you is that you use 'en' for a masculine named country beginning with a vowel, e.g. en Iran, en Irak.

The majority of French REGIONS are feminine and you use 'en' - en Normandie, en Bretagne, etc. - no exceptions. Masculine regions use 'dans le' - dans le Poitou - EXCEPTION: en Anjou.

Departments:

Masc. use 'dans le' - dans le Jura, dans le Gard.
Fem. use 'dans la'/'en' - dans la Gironde, en Gironde. Some fem. departments don't like 'dans la' - these are en Vendée, en Saoune et Loire, en Cote d'Or.
Fem. plurals use 'dans les' - dans les Alpes Maritimes.

Answer 5

I'm an american taking french, and I know for a FACT the dictonary won't work, they just say dans/ dans le(la). I got corrected by my teacher for saying "La vetranarie(sp?) es DANS dublin" instaid of A'( I can't get the puntuation) dublin.

Answer 6

hi kinda you can use a dictionary beside u i can advice u: lepetit robert 2007 est super . moi aussi j'ai la meme probleme . j'ai ete en ecole " sacre coeur" mais depuis longtemps . alors ,j'ai oubliee un peu parce que je ne l'ai pas utulisee et il faut toujours des exercises pour etre pofissional