# FR: X doesn't/don't <verb> but Y does/do



## cldjr

Salut francophones,

je suis en train de apprendre le Français et je voudrais vous poser une question simple:

"Est-ce qu'elle est d'accord avec toi?"
"Non, elle n'est pas d'accord cependant sa mère est"

Si je disais la deuxième phrase, je pense que vous comprendriez ce que je veux dire. Mais je pense que on doit utiliser un pronom dans ce cas parce que la phrase complet est "Non, elle n'est pas d'accord cependant sa mère est [d'accord avec moi]". 

Peux-je remplacer "d'accord avec moi" par un pronom? Si oui, quel pronom devrais-je utiliser?

(Si j'étais un joueur, je parierais que il n'y a pas de pronom pour ce cas - je ne pense pas qu'on peut utiliser "en". Je suis sûr on ne peut pas utiliser "y" et les pronons direct (le, la, etc.) et indirect (lui, leur, etc) ne sont pas appropriés aussi).

Pardon pour mon terrible Français !

Merci

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads have been merged to create this one.


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## koukeye

[…] Il y a le pronom personnel "le" qui peut remplacer toute une phrase plutot une proposition. Est-ce qu'elle d'accord avec toi?" - "Non, elle ne *l'*est pas cependant sa mère *l'*est".

Vouz pouvez aussi dire "Non, elle n'est pas d'accord mais sa mère *l'*est". Ma langue mère est l'arabe mais je suis francophone. On peut attendre l'opinion des "vrais"  francophones. (...)


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## Oddmania

Hi,

You indeed need a pronoun: _le _

......_Non, elle n'est pas d'accord, mais sa mère *l'*est_.

Note that — although correct — this is very wordy, and it sounds like a direct translation from English ("She doesn't agree, but his mother does"). 
It would be much more conversational to say:

......_Non, elle n'est pas d'accord, mais sa mère, *si*_.


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## Xletra

Kind of struggling as to how to say ''does'' in French in the context of 'I do this, and my father does (so and so).
Unsure of this because there must be a set of rules you have to follow to find out how to say does in this context perhaps? If there is, could you explain that too?
Thanks!


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## djweaverbeaver

Hi,

What do you mean by "does" in your sentence?  Could you provide a better example and perhaps more background?


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## Xletra

For example, 'I don't play football, but my father does'.


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## djweaverbeaver

Hi,

You could say:
_*Je ne fais pas de foot, mais mon père, si.*_    or
*Je ne fais pas de foot, mais mon père en fait*.

If you want to use the verb _*jouer*_, the structure is similar:
*Je ne joue pas au foot, mais mon père, si.*       or
_*Je ne joue pas au foot, mais mon père *_*y*_* joue.*_

It wouldn't be right to use *faire *in the last sentence (ie. ...mais mon père le/en fait) since the original verb is _*jouer*_.  The *does *that we often use in English in such situations is the auxiliary verb (for emphasis), not the main verb, and this doesn't exist as such in French.

[…]


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## Xletra

Thanks, and what if I was to use the verb 'smoke - fumer'?


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## djweaverbeaver

The paradigm is the same:

*Je ne fume pas, mais mon père, si.*

In English, what you're really saying is "*I don't smoke, but my dad does (smoke).*"
That's akin to "*Je ne fume pas, mais mon père, si (,il fume)*".  We often want to avoid sounding redundant.

*Je ne fume pas, mais mon père le fait*  is incorrect in French because *ne fume pas* is not the opposite of *fait*.  If you notice in the English sentence *does (smoke) ≠ doesn't (smoke)*; the structure remains parallel.


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## guillaumedemanzac

It doesn't work in French because you don't have the auxiliary verb "do" as a question *and* as a negative ; do/don't; does/doesn't.

It also works both ways in English: I smoke but my father doesn't. I don't smoke but my father does. 

 And it is often used to avoid repeating the main verb. And is used in the past tense - ed and did/didn't

We walk*ed* along the same Roman road that Caesar* did* 2000 years ago. Nous avons suivi le même chemin que César il y a 2,000 ans. No.he didn't. Yes, he did.


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## Chimel

I would also say (and even rather say): "Je ne fume pas, mais mon père bien", instead of _si_.

This use of _bien_ is sometimes called a "belgicisme" (a way of speaking typical of French-speaking Belgium, often under the influence of Germanic languages), but I have a feeling that it is heard more and more in France too, at least in some regions. Probably a bit more colloquial than the option with _si_. To be confirmed by French people?


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## Maître Capello

Instead of _si_, you could also use _oui_:

_Je ne fais pas du foot, mais mon père, *si/oui*._

Alternatively (although it would be more natural if adding some complement):

_Je ne fais pas du foot, mais mon père *en fait*.
Je ne fais pas du foot, mais mon père *en fait* chaque semaine._



Chimel said:


> I would also say (and even rather say): "Je ne fume pas, mais mon père bien", instead of _si_.


To me this is definitely a belgicism. I've never heard it in Switzerland or France.


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## Chimel

Hmmm... Can be. I'm pretty sure that I _have_ heard it because it's the sort of things that strikes me particularly ("aha, you say it too?"), in everyday conversation but also on French television. Especially under the form "moi (toi, lui..) bien". "Plus personne ne veut de dessert? - Si, moi bien!"

Next time I come across it, I'll try to write it down.


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## i like turtles

Hi, I'm trying to translate the sentence "Animals don't have a voice, but you do." into French, but I don't know how to say "you do". Right now I have "Les animaux n’ont pas une voix, mais [???]" -- is that correct? Thanks


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## Maître Capello

_Les animaux n'ont pas de voix, mais *toi oui/si*._


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## i like turtles

Thanks


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