Thanks. IC now. So there were sth that I overlooked
One more question.
How long do u think the duration can be implied when using il y a? If 10 mins are too short, 1 day? 1 month? or even over a year?
regarding the translation u gave
J'AI ACHETÉ CET APPARTEMENT IL Y A TROIS ANS
I bought this apartment three years ago / it's been 3 years since i bought this apartment.
I got ur point. Yes all roads lead to Rome but at least we can choose a shortcut, if there were. Personally I prefer the first one, given that it has the same ( or almost the same) grammar structure as the original sentence. Especially for the new learners, the easier to remember, the better. And of course I respect your idea. to each his own, so u keep urs and I stick 2 mine.
oh, one more thing. that's fun coz I myself am kind of crazy about the grammars, be it English or French. If possible I would really want to have a Webster's, or Larousse installed in my brain. So what I mean is that vocab and grammar can never be toooo vital for the non-native speakers. Can u imagine someone who has been living in France for over 10 years saying' nous fait quoi demain' , that's what I heard yesterday...From time to time I saw some rude French look down upon the foreigners for their accents, Let alone their poor grammar.
Well, I think I need to take a deep breath now.. It's been a million years that I haven't spoken a word of English.
looking forward to your answer to my question. And it's been nice discussing this with you, though I guess maybe I've been overtalkative.
