babyposer

You know life in France is hard these days and there are less and less Brits coming to France.

France's other migrant problem - penniless and hungry BRITS | Mail Online

Novocastrian

a) that link has already been posted and

b) fewer and fewer, not less and less.

aboris

Thank God someone knows the correct use of fewer and less.

The other thing that really gets my goat is when people use amount when they should be using number.

Even the BBC is increasingly getting these things wrong.

loy loy

Don't watch match of the day then, a favourite of Alan Shearer

He should of went....

50% error

aboris

The BBC has a lot to answer for..........

dmu

To be fair, and I may be wrong, but I believe Babyposer is French?

Chatter Static

Judging by the first post your correct....

babyposer

Thanks !

Actually my mother is french and my father is english but I grew up in France and my father was talking to me in french when I was a kid (!) so I had to learn english with the rest of my family while I was on holiday in England so..

I went to school in France my whole life and I often make mistakes so please let me know if some of my sentences are incorrect !

InVinoVeritas

French and English start with caps otherwise your written English is better than most (...CS) on this forum

babyposer

Well I was going to put a cap and then was not sure because in this case 'french' and 'english' are adjectives.

Ah I just found a topic about this and actually 'English' is always with a cap.

Ok, good to know, cheers !

Peabrain

Well, since you ask...
The compulsory capital letter for languages, nationality and the adjectives that go with them has already been pointed out by IVV.
It would be preferable to write "my father used to talk to me in French"... "was talking to me" is a direct translation of the French imperfect, and in English would require some sort of interruption: "My father was talking to me when I was bitten by a scorpion''.
'used to'+verb is what the French call 'une forme fréquentative du passé' and translates the French imperfect (quand j'étais petite mon père me parlait en français) when describing something that happened more or less regularly or frequently in the past, but which today no longer happens. In this sentence you are no longer a kid and the progressive form is wrong.
PB

bigglesworth

Surely if they are both penniless and hungry, they could well be less and less as well as fewer and fewer?

Back to topic, I read the forum every day. I personally very much appreciate the civility and courtesy of comments. Compared to other forums it is a breath of fresh air. I am in awe of other members knowledge and helpfulness. We first moved to Spain, before coming to France so I started on the Spanish forum, but on both fora (okay Novo?) I have received so much helpful advice. I try to throw my twopennyworth in when I can, but am very conscious that it is pretty small beer compared to the pearls from others.
So please stick with it guys, I am sure the friendly atmosphere is just as appreciated by newbies as it was by me

Chatter Static

Funny enough there was a time when my written skills were better, but I have given up worrying about it.

Shirtback

Yes.

<pet bugbear>sat/seated/sitting</pet bugbear>.

S

bigglesworth

My pet hate is every time I hear (especially on the BBC)
"I would of loved to have..."