"Avant, il passait chez nous tous les jours."
Translation:Before, he used to stop by our place every day.
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"before, he used to go by our house every day" - Is this wrong or just not in the database yet?
Good question. Can "il passait chez nous tous les jours" also mean "he passed our house every day (on his way to work)"?
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To follow up on this one, if you mouse over the word "passait" on this question, you see the suggestions of: (he/she/it) used to pass by (he/she/it) used to go by
"before, he used to go by our place every day" is marked wrong
There is no suggestion of: (he/she/it) used to stop by
...although I agree that "used to stop by" should be accepted (as it is)
Why have to use used to every time. He stopped by our place every day is acceptable.as it is a repetitive action in the past. Hence i perfect tense
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As an American, I would say "our house". Although, people might say "our place," I rarely hear it used. Primarily, people on TV would say that.
We don't tend to use the word 'by' in England we would say they visited our house not stopped by our house.
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In American English we would mostly say, "He would come "to" or "by", but moreso "to" our house everyday."
In other matters: I learned that "chez" meant house or home when used in this context. In American English "place" is not used very often by adults, i.e., it's slangy, if used it is by youth mainly. Duo uses "place" as the translation for chez everytime and it is annoying (to me). It feels like fingernails dragging across a chalkboard. I'm just sayin'
So if you wrote 'il visitait' is that more formal? rather than dropping by?
Use “rendre visite a“, not “visiter” for people. I’m not fluent but I think passer implies something unplanned and short.
Yes. I’m not entirely sure of this but I think you can sometimes use visiter for people that you don’t know who are confined. Like politicians visiting a refugee camp or a prison.
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Passer is not a visit as such, it is more literally "passing by" when used with a location like chez nous.
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Is Duolingo allowing any other word construction except "to stop by" for "passer chez ..."
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For apartments people just say apartment, as in he would stop by my apartment every day. Of course some people say place from time to time.
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Hey!!! If that is my picture (Wanda) under "deactivated user" i never wrote that. I don't even talk like that! AND, i was never deactivated. I wonder how this happened. Scary.
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'before' means 'used to', 'He used to stop by our place every day'. So is this a common french construction, or is 'avant' used here as a learning device?
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Before on its own doesn't mean anything in English. I assume the French means or is short for "before now" so you are right that "used to" is already implied...
Why is "used to"required in this sentence? It is "before" so is in the past, and "stopped by" is a past tense verb.
Why the "used to".
It may be appropriate in French (which is what we are learning)but is not used, required or correct in English.
Do I have to remember this incorrect use of English in order to pass the lessons?