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I read on Wikipedia that in quebec when a verb is followed by a infinitive (one that requires a preposition) they use à even with verbs that in metropolitan french would require de. Is that true?
Omission of the prepositions that collocate with certain verbs:
J'ai un enfant à m'occuper. (Standard French: s'occuper de; J'ai un enfant dont je dois m'occuper.) I have a child (I need) to take care of.
Omission of the prepositions that collocate with certain verbs:
J'ai un enfant à m'occuper. (Standard French: s'occuper de; J'ai un enfant dont je dois m'occuper.) I have a child (I need) to take care of.
Yes, you could hear that.
Even sometimes: J'ai un enfant que je dois m'occuper.
The article says that Quebecers themselves consider this nonstandard. I've never heard "j'ai un enfant à m'occuper." I've only ever heard "J'ai un enfant dont je dois m'occuper."
But I've often heard "la personne que je te parle" instead of "la personne dont je te parle." But in my experience (I lived in Montreal for 15 years), "que je te parle" is only used by less educated people and/or in informal speech.
In any case, the example that you give is not an example of "in quebec when a verb is followed by a infinitive (one that requires a preposition) they use à even with verbs that in metropolitan french would require de," so your question is unclear.
The Wikipedia article is interesting, but it doesn't make enough distinction between educated and less educated speakers and formal and informal speech. For example, it says that the verb aller is conjugated je vas, tu vas, il va. Educated speakers in Quebec NEVER say je vas, evenin informal speech. It also gives que j'alle as the subjunctive; again, educated speakers never, ever say that. So take this article with a grain of salt.
The Wikipedia article is interesting, but it doesn't make enough distinction between educated and less educated speakers and formal and informal speech. For example, it says that the verb aller is conjugated je vas, tu vas, il va.Educated speakers in Quebec NEVER say je vas, evenin informal speech. It also gives que j'alle as the subjunctive; again, educated speakers never, ever say that. So take this article with a grain of salt.
I agree with the rest of your post but the bolded is not true. Pretty much every native Quebecer I know, educated or not, says j'vas in everyday speech: j'vas faire des commissions, j'vas apporter une bouteille de vin, etc.
I agree with the rest of your post but the bolded is not true. Pretty much every native Quebecer I know, educated or not, says j'vas in everyday speech: j'vas faire des commissions, j'vas apporter une bouteille de vin, etc.
"J'vas" is like our "gonna" or our "ain't".
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