"Il parle à des hommes que je n'ai pas reconnus."
Translation:He is talking to some men that I didn't recognize.
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The tenses don't match properly in english. Should either be he is talking to some men that i don't recognize or he was talking to some men that i didn't recognize.
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He passed by with some men, and is talking to them now elsewhere. English can be logical, not just arbitrarily formalist. Think.
For the people who refuse to and need the constant, redundant clarification: "He is talking to some men that I didn't recognize when I saw them."
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ChipHarrel is correct. One would have to clarify as you just did for the sentence to make sense.
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Sean, I urge people to reread your explanation, think a minute, and analyze. Obviously the second clause could have occurred earlier in time than the first clause, allowing the second clause to be in a past tense.
Another way to demonstrate this syntax is to reorder the clauses: "I didn't recognize some men that he's talking to." Nothing has been added or subtracted, but the meaning is clearer for those who are "arbitrarily formalist". ;-)
Agree with Sean. Other examples: She is bringing a type of cake that I’ve never had before. I have heard that he will leave today. He is playing tennis at the park that we didn’t like. She is wearing the dress that I gave her.
Many American English speakers jumble "who", "whom" and "that" and now routinely refer to corporate entities as "who" and humans as "that." It seems to be part of living in bizarro world.
