57 Comment ça se fait

Comment ça se fait

This expression is commonly used in informal French conversations to express surprise, curiosity, or sometimes skepticism about a situation or event. It’s a way of asking for an explanation or reason behind something that seems unusual or unexpected.

1. “Comment ça se fait que tu es en retard?” (How come you’re late?)

2. “Il a gagné la loterie? Comment ça se fait?” (He won the lottery? How did that happen?)

3. “Comment ça se fait qu’il pleut en plein été?” (How come it’s raining in the middle of summer?)

les/des/aux deux

French does not have a word for both, instead, use les/des/aux deux as an adjective and use tous les deux as a pronoun.

• J’ai mal aux deux genous. Both my knees hurt.
• Ils sont bretons, tous les deux. They’re both Breton.
• Comment ça se fait que vous parlez tous les deux le breton ? How come you both speak Breton?

L’imparfait

The French imperfect tense (l’imparfait) is a past tense used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, set the scene, or describe past states or habits.

To form the imperfect tense:

1. Take the first-person plural (nous) form of the present tense
2. Remove the -ons ending
3. Add the imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

The imperfect tense is used for:

1. Describing past situations or states: “Quand il était petit, Lucas aimait beaucoup les gâteaux.” (When he was young, Lucas really liked cake.)
2. Talking about habitual actions in the past: “Tous les jours, il faisait un gâteau avec son amie Florence.” (Every day he would bake a cake with his friend Florence.)
3. Describing simultaneous actions in the past: “Pendant qu’il regardait la recette, Florence préparait la pâte.” (While he was reading the recipe, Florence was preparing the cake batter.)

• À propos, saviez-vous que le verbe “baragouiner” était d’origine bretonne ? By the way, did you know that the verb baragouiner(to talk gibberish) was of Breton origin?

Idiomatic expression

• Vous m’apprenez quelque chose ! That’s news to me.
• on n’y comprend rien, y replaces indirect object:
  • “Que disent ces Bretons ? On n’y comprend rien”, disaient les Parisiens.
  • À la fin du film, on n’y comprend rien.
    • If the indirect object comes after the verb, y is not used and rien returns to its usual place: On n’a rien compris au film.

ne … que

• “only”
• “just”
• “nothing but”
• “no one but”
• “nothing else but”

1. Limiting or restricting:

   • “Je ne mange que des fruits.” (I only eat fruits.)
   • “Il ne pense qu’à lui-même.” (He only thinks about himself.)

2. Emphasizing exclusivity:

   • “Elle n’a que 20 ans.” (She’s only 20 years old.)
   • “Nous ne sommes que deux.” (We are only two.)

3. Indicating a minimum:

   • “Ce n’est qu’un début.” (It’s only a beginning.)
   • “Ce n’était qu’une question de temps.” (It was only a matter of time.)

Important Notes:

1. “Ne … que” is not a negative expression. It’s restrictive but positive in meaning.

2. In informal spoken French, the “ne” is often dropped, but it’s always used in formal or written French.

3. When used with infinitives, “ne” and “que” surround the entire infinitive phrase:

   • “Il ne veut que dormir.” (He only wants to sleep.)

4. With compound tenses, “que” comes after the auxiliary verb:

   • “Je n’ai mangé que des fruits.” (I only ate fruits.)

Contrast:

• Elle n’a que des idées. She has only ideas.
• Elle n’a pas d’idées. She doesn’t have any ideas.
• Elle n’a pas que des idées. She has more than just ideas.

Vocabulaire