accent or no accent

Under 2.9 , the letter A is referred to both with and without an accent and also with a very confusing mark which looks like a quotation mark after the letter a ie a". To a novice, this looks like a another type of accent mark with no further explaination as to its meaning. There is also no mention of the translation in English to mean "to".

Dear Anne, There is only 3 type o "a" in french language: a,à and â. I will give you further details when i come back from work. julien.

Hi,I'm back! Let's get started... -The simple "a"(without any accent) is a verb form of "to have"("avoir" in french) for the 3rd singular person: "il" (he) and "elle"(she). ~1st use:as a real verb,it tends to point out a possession,and is the "has got" english equivalence: ex: il a beaucoup de livres (he has got a lot of books) elle a une voiture de luxe (she has got a luxury car). or simply a physical or mental sensation: ex:il a de la fièvre (he has got fever ) elle a beaucoup de doutes (she has got plenty of doubts). ~2nd use:as an auxilary in the english present perfect tense equivalence,still for 3rd singular person: ex: he has read a book (il a lu un livre). she has worked as a teacher (elle a travaillé comme professeur). Practical tip:if you want to be shure an "a" in the sentence you are writing is a simple "a"(therefore a verb form),try to replace it with another person than the 3rd singular one: ex:he has lost a teeth (il a perdu une dent) =replace it by "I" ("je" ,in french),and you will get: I have lost a teeth (j'ai perdu une dent). As you can see the auxilary has changed due to the change of person,but still is a verb form:you can't make a mistake,this is actually a simple "a". -The "à" (with an accent) is a preposition. ~1st use:with the "to" english equivalence with an idea of location,place: ex:Je vais à la piscine (I go to the swimming pool) Sometimes it could be an "at" equivalence,for a precise small location: ex:Nous étudions à la bibliothèque (we study at the library). Finally, it could be a "in" equivalence,still for a geographic place,like a city: ex:J'habite à Londres (I live in London) or a geographic type of place: ex:J'habite à la campagne (I live in the countryside) J'habite à la montagne (I live in the mountain), but never for a country: ex:J'habite en France (I live in France) or a region: ex:J'habite dans le Connecticut (I live in Connecticut). In summary ,this is for precise place,and not for huge ones. ~2nd use:as an equivalence of the english " 's " which designes possession. ex:David's car (la voiture à David) Jennifer's bag (le sac à Jennifer). -The "â" takes place inside a word and could never be an entire word itself. There's no rules,no tips to identify it. You will during your quest of learning french,sometimes meet one word that carries this type of "â",and therefore will know that this precise word is always written like it. a few exemples:gâteau (cake) château (castle) âne (donkey) ... Notice that no one will blame you if you forget this type of "â" accent in this kind of word and will without any problem undersand perfectly this word,because you can't express something else without it.Furthermore ,it tends to diseappear gently nowadays. Concerning the odd "ä" you have seen somewhere,it simply doesn't exist at all... This kind of accent ("trema" in french) exist,but only above a "e", but that's another story I won't tell you now... Sincerly Julien.

Hello Julien, Vous ne m'avez pas donné un mal de tėte, vous aves été très utile. Thank you so much, it has helped enormously, but I will need to study your answers a lot more before I remember everything! It really helps to place the "a" in context in several sentences, and the English equivalent helps too. I think it is natural when learning a language to try to translate it literally, but I am realising that it's not possible most of the time. Thank you again, I hope you Hindi learning goes well. Merci beaucoup.

You're welcome. Where are you coming from? Congratulations for your first sentence in you reply(the one in french),it's perfectly done!

Hello, Je viens d'Angleterre, mais j'ai me beaucoup France. I am on Rocket Lesson 2.4 so I shall soon be able to order a taxi! I hope!

Good luck!