Answer Question
Allait vs. Voudrait
In Fluenz 5, Session 8, "Type the Conversation", one of the phrases used is: La fête allait commencer à deux heures, mais il a plu, donc elle a commencé à trois heures. I would have used the expression: La fête commencerait à... or aurait commencé (The party would have started
The Fluenz use seems like a strange construction to me and I am confused over it. As best as I can tell, Fluenz is using the Imparfait where I would have used the Passé Conditionnel. Perhaps this is an English and not a French grammatical problem?
I do not seem to remember a Fluenz lesson covering the use of aller in the imparfait to mean "would". I would have translated that as "Use to go" or "Was going" as a past activity. (...and I think: "would have begun" also seems to be a valid construction)
So, there seems to be several issues, 2 of which are:
1. Which is best/preferred: Allait commencer or Commencerait if the Imparfait was the right choice and why?
2. Is this sentence best put in the Imparfait or is the Passé Conditionnel a better choice and why?
Thanks,
Dan
The Fluenz use seems like a strange construction to me and I am confused over it. As best as I can tell, Fluenz is using the Imparfait where I would have used the Passé Conditionnel. Perhaps this is an English and not a French grammatical problem?
I do not seem to remember a Fluenz lesson covering the use of aller in the imparfait to mean "would". I would have translated that as "Use to go" or "Was going" as a past activity. (...and I think: "would have begun" also seems to be a valid construction)
So, there seems to be several issues, 2 of which are:
1. Which is best/preferred: Allait commencer or Commencerait if the Imparfait was the right choice and why?
2. Is this sentence best put in the Imparfait or is the Passé Conditionnel a better choice and why?
Thanks,
Dan