"Did you just invite your wife?"
Translation:Venez-vous d'inviter votre femme ?
19 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
It will be accepted but be aware that that the "statement as question" form relies on an inflection and is only suited for spoken language. It is very informal. To ask questions which will serve in all circumstances, consider using more standard forms:
- Inversion is more formal
- Est-ce que before a statement is considered standard French (and it's also very easy to construct).
Is the informal version: "Est-ce que tu viens d'inviter ton femme?" not accepted?
This format uses intonation. "You just invited your wife?" is a little bit different in nuance, albeit minor, to "Did you just invite your wife?".
Your translation may very well be equally acceptable. The best way to find that out is to report it for consideration.
Bonne chance !
Why is "Avons fait vous viens de inviter votre femme ?" incorrect?
Other than the mix-up of 'de inviter' and d'inviter', of course.
It says I'm using the wrong words, but I'm still confused.
Edit: Just realised 'viens' is 'tu' and I used 'vous'. The 'vous' version is 'venez'. Thanks to anyone who would help me, anyway.
Edit #2: Still need help with the first part.
Edit #3: My sentence is now "Avons fait vous venez d'inviter votre femme ?"
At this point, I don't know whether that is right or not.
sighs
"Venir de" is idiomatic in French to mean "just" did something.
"Venir (conjugated) de + infinitive verb"
Je viens de finir mes devoirs. = I just finished my homework.
Nous venons de rentrer. = We just returned (home).
Ils viennent de lire ce livre. = They just read that book.
For vous in the form of a question you could write : Venez-vous d'inviter votre femme ? (inverted form) or Est-ce que vous venez d'inviter votre femme ?
I was initially drawing a blank when looking at your "avons fait vous" sentence until I realized that you are translating from English to French one word at a time. It just doesn't work that way. It might be helpful for you to review the section on questions and also look here for more information: https://www.thoughtco.com/questions-in-french-1368935
I take except my answer not being allowed. 'Avez-vous juste invité vôtre femme'. The translation was accepted at another website.
Why use the plural you (vous) instead of singular (tu)? Since wife is singular, this sounds to me like 2 or more people have the same wife.
"Vous" is not just for groups of two or more. The singular vous is the "formal" you. Use vous when addressing those you don't know, those to whom you owe respect (boss, teacher, mayor), and those you interact with on a professional level (clients, sales clerks, servers). Save "tu" for friends, family, children, and peers. When in doubt, start with "vous."
I get this is trying to teach the recent past. But without that context, “just” can be interpreted as “only.” I tried both “tu n’as qu’inviter ta femme” and “as-tu inviter seulement ta femme.” Could those work with the other meaning of “just”?