Help, do you speak French?

[LisaM]

If so, can you help me out? A friend and I have been asked by a third friend to make a call to France tomorrow to ask a few routine questions about a potential tenant. I don't mind trying to put together the questions, but frankly, I haven't had the opportunity to write/speak French in years and have never had a conversation about tenancy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is what we want to say (it's pretty brief.)


I understand that ___ rented an apartment from you. She gave you as a reference because she wants to rent an apartment from me. Would you please answer a few questions?

I would like to know:

did she pay her rent on time?
was she a good tenant?
would you recommend her as a tenant?
did she keep her apartment in good condition?
was she noisy?

That's all.

Thanks!!!

[TNDemo]

1. Not fluent here but

you might try Alta Vista babblefish or another translator. You put it in in English and it will give you the French translation. I have heard it is not exactly accurate all the time but it's a start.

[Bossy Monkey]

2. You might want to try to PM/email DUer BonJourUSA

My French was pretty solid 20 years ago, but I'm not sure I would have been much help on any of these even then. (Not the sort of stuff that comes up unless you actually live there)

[Atlant]

4. DUer Paschall also is fluent, AFAIK. (NT)

[FlashHarry]

3. Try this:

J'ai appris que le ___ a loué un appartement de vous.
Elle vous a donné comme référence parce qu'elle veut louer un appartement de moi. Répondriez-vous svp à quelques questions?
Je voudrais savoir :
lui a-t-elle payé le loyer à l'heure ?
était-elle une bonne locataire ?
la recommanderiez-vous en tant que locataire ?
a-t-elle gardé son appartement en bon état ?
était-elle bruyante ?


This is the Alta Vista translation. My French is decent (and I've dealt with renting apartments in France) and it looks pretty good. In any case, they'll understand what you want to know.

[LisaM]

5. Thanks for the helpful responses.

I will try PMing those two people, and in the meantime, I noted the translation (it makes sense to me, but then, I'm not French!)

Merci merci!