Lesson 3.2 comments/concerns

Salut-

I am currently completing lesson 3.2. I have a couple concerns about the grammar used throughout the lesson. 

1. Je suis perdu(e) (I am lost)
Why is the second verb 'conjugated'? Even then, it is not conjugated properly with 'Je'. The terms 'Je suis perdue' and 'Je suis perdu' are both used throughout the lesson. 

2. à gauche & à droite vs. gauche & droite
Based on my experience, and the quiz question, à gauche & à droite means 'to the left' & 'to the right', respectfully. But, in the 'extra vocabulary' section, they are simply listed as 'left' & 'right'. Was this done in error?

3. J'ai perdu mon portefeuille & J'ai perdu mon hôtel
These terms appear to be using the past tense form of 'perdre' But, 'I have lost my wallet' and 'I have lost my hotel' sound to me in English, as if they are currently happening. Why is the passé composé used here instead of the present?


Any comments and clarifications are very much appreciated!
Merci beaucoup!
-Calli 

Salut CalliW !

Thank you for your questions! I'll go through them one by one.

1. In the sentences Je suis perdu and Je suis perdue, perdu isn't actually a verb; it's an adjective. This is actually just like "lost" in English: you can say "I lost my keys" (verb) or you can say "I found the lost puppy" (adjective). 

2. In this situation, it's the English translation that is making things tricky! It can be helpful for learners to think of à gauche and à droite as "to the left" and "to the right" because the preposition à "to" is included. But we can also translate this as simply "left" and "right"; for example, you can say to someone "Turn to the left," but it's probably more natural just to say "Turn left."

I will pass this on to the French team so that they can see about making this clearer in the lesson. 

3. In everywhere except for literature/very formal writing, the passé composé can be translated into English as either the present perfect or as the past simple. 

This just means that j'ai perdu can be either "I have lost" or "I lost." Both are past tenses. "I have lost" (present perfect) means that the action started in the past and is linked to the present (e.g. I lost something a short time ago and its effects are with me in the present). "I lost" means that the action started and ended in the past; it is complete (e.g.  I lost something in the past, and the action of losing it is finished).

So the present tense wouldn't have the same meaning here.

I hope that this is helpful! Do let me know if you still have any questions.

À la prochaine,

Liss

Liss-
Merci beaucoup! That was great information and cleared my questions up perfectly!

Thanks again,
Calli 

De rien, Calli ! I'm glad it was helpful! :)

À la prochaine,

Liss