Breakdown of Je demandais une recommandation ; voici la mienne.
je
I
un
a / an (masculine)
voici
here is, this is
le mien
mine (masculine singular; also la mienne, les miens, les miennes)
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
la recommandation
the recommendation
Questions & Answers about Je demandais une recommandation ; voici la mienne.
Why use the imperfect Je demandais instead of the present Je demande here?
This is a great example of the imparfait d'atténuation (imperfect of politeness). By framing the request in the imperfect tense, it feels less direct and demanding than the present tense Je demande (I ask / I am asking). It's a very common way to soften a request or state your intentions politely in French, similar to saying "I wanted to ask" in English.
The English translation says "I was asking." Does this refer to a past action or a present request?
It can be both, depending on the context! Because of the imperfect of politeness, it often means "I am asking [right now, politely]." However, it can also literally mean a continuous past action: "I was asking [earlier]." Here, following it with voici la mienne suggests a present conversational exchange: "I would like to ask for a recommendation; [to start us off,] here is mine."
Why is it la mienne instead of le mien?
Why is there a space before the semicolon?
This is a strict rule in French typography. For any punctuation mark that consists of two distinct parts (like the semicolon ;, colon :, exclamation mark !, and question mark ?), you must insert a space before it.
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