G-6-2-1 rendre visite à quelqu’un : French to French drill – replace “à quelqu’un” with indirect object
Listen and answer out loud.
Here is the pattern:
You hear… Je rends visite à ma mère
You should say… Je lui rends visite.
Question 1
Answer:
You heard… Le pape François a rendu visite à Benoît XVI.
And you should have answered… Le pape François lui a rendu visite.
Question 2
Answer:
You heard… La chanteuse a rendu visite à ses fans.
And you should have answered… La chanteuse leur a rendu visite.
Question 3
Answer:
You heard… Les élus ont rendu visite aux 319 écoliers de la commune.
And you should have answered… Les élus leur ont rendu visite.
Question 4
Answer:
You heard… François Hollande aurait rendu visite à son prédécesseur le 29 mars dernier.
And you should have answered… François Hollande lui aurait rendu visite le 29 mars dernier.
Question 5
Answer:
You heard… Il a marché 20 kilomètres pour rendre visite à sa fille.
And you should have answered… Il a marché 20 kilomètres pour lui rendre visite.
Question 6
Answer:
You heard… Je rendais visite à ma mère.
And you should have answered… Je lui rendais visite.
Question 7
Answer:
You heard… Ils auraient rendu visite aux blessés.
And you should have answered… Ils leur auraient rendu visite.
Question 8
Answer:
You heard… Nous rendrons visite à notre fille cet été.
And you should have answered… Nous lui rendrons visite cet été.
11 thoughts on “G-6-2-1 rendre visite à quelqu’un : French to French drill – replace “à quelqu’un” with indirect object”
This was a great exercise for me. It’s one thing to learn an expression and completely different to use it in all its forms and conjugations. More of these, please.
I also had some trouble understanding the word aurait in Question 4, but once I knew what it was, I was able to hear it. I also had a bit of trouble understanding rendais in Question 6, perhaps because of the way it was pronounced, but also because I have never used rendais in that context. In speaking, i would have said j’ai rendu visite à ma mère, although I guess that je rendais could work in certain contexts. It is always a challenge to know when to use passé composé and when to use l’imparfait!
Excellent exercises! My problem was with unfamiliar verb tenses initially. And, like Ray, certain syllable strings of names/numbers. Got the final one right the first time however.
No problem for the most part. Pronouns no problem. I had a little difficulty hearing the “Je” in “Je rendais visite à ma mère.” You have a light pronunciation here.
But great exercise here. Besides order of pronouns, one can learn different usages of this expression. The “Il aurait rendu visite”, “he is said to have visited”, is an interesting form.
As a second comment, recognizing that certain syllable strings are names (names of people, places, etc.) often presents a problem — I don’t know a good solution to that one.
I had trouble recognizing the throaty (Belgian sounding) “r” in “aurait” in the question part of Question 4 (no problem in the answer to Question 4 or the other times you said “aurait” — the “r” was softer — less Germanic — those times). After repeated listenings, it was easier to hear.
This was a great exercise for me. It’s one thing to learn an expression and completely different to use it in all its forms and conjugations. More of these, please.
Hello Suzanne,
Thank you for letting me know! I will make more of these.
Best regards,
David
I also had some trouble understanding the word aurait in Question 4, but once I knew what it was, I was able to hear it. I also had a bit of trouble understanding rendais in Question 6, perhaps because of the way it was pronounced, but also because I have never used rendais in that context. In speaking, i would have said j’ai rendu visite à ma mère, although I guess that je rendais could work in certain contexts. It is always a challenge to know when to use passé composé and when to use l’imparfait!
Excellent exercises! My problem was with unfamiliar verb tenses initially. And, like Ray, certain syllable strings of names/numbers. Got the final one right the first time however.
Great Chris. Thank you for letting me know. I will work on more exercises like this soon.
Best regards,
David
No problem for the most part. Pronouns no problem. I had a little difficulty hearing the “Je” in “Je rendais visite à ma mère.” You have a light pronunciation here.
But great exercise here. Besides order of pronouns, one can learn different usages of this expression. The “Il aurait rendu visite”, “he is said to have visited”, is an interesting form.
Thank you Jon. The feedback is helpful.
Best regards,
David
As a second comment, recognizing that certain syllable strings are names (names of people, places, etc.) often presents a problem — I don’t know a good solution to that one.
I had trouble recognizing the throaty (Belgian sounding) “r” in “aurait” in the question part of Question 4 (no problem in the answer to Question 4 or the other times you said “aurait” — the “r” was softer — less Germanic — those times). After repeated listenings, it was easier to hear.
While I heard and understood more than 80 % I had a more difficult time in formulating the answers in the correct order given.
I had trouble understanding a lot of the words when I listened to them before reading them, even though they were words I am familiar with.