The Utopiales in Nantes: a weekend exploring science and society through fiction

La science-fiction ne se limite pas aux voyages spatiaux : elle permet aussi d’interroger la société et les techniques.

Normally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.

Selon les organisateurs, les Utopiales se tiennent du 29 octobre au 1er novembre à La Cité des Congrès de Nantes.

Selon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.

Rencontre peut désigner une rencontre avec un auteur ou un échange public.

Put a base-form verb after pouvoir. Peut means “can” or “may”; the conditional pourrait gives a more reserved possibility, “might”. It does not necessarily mean implementation is settled.

Littérature, expositions et repères pratiques pour découvrir cette rencontre.

This is the purpose, “in order to…”. Put the base form of a verb after pour. The purpose stated here is separate from whether the effect was actually achieved.

Certaines soirées, notamment jeux et cinéma, ne sont pas comprises dans les billets ordinaires.

Est is third-person singular and sont third-person plural of être. They express “is / are” — a state or description. If a past participle follows, it is a different structure such as the passive, so check the words that follow.

Le festival international de science-fiction se déroule du 29 octobre au 1er novembre.

Le 15 octobre means “on 15 October”. Distinguish the le before a date from the le that marks a weekly habit like a weekday. Du is de + le and au is à + le, so decide the meaning from the verb and period expressions around them. Their role depends on the group: a range of dates, the date of a bulletin or another complement.

主催者によると、Utopialesは10月29日から11月1日まで、ナントのシテ・デ・コングレで開催されます。

As in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.

SFは宇宙旅行だけを描くものではなく、架空の世界を通して社会や技術について考える入り口にもなります。

As in “予算について”, it shows the topic to be talked about or explained. In the form “〜についての報道”, の is added so that the group qualifies the following noun.

公式案内には、文学、漫画、映画、科学、ゲーム、展示などが掲載されています。

“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.

28日の前夜祭と、一般向けの会期を分けて確認しましょう。

The て-form links actions in a series, in order or as a reason. In “確認して、出発する” the relation is judged from the content. In “〜ている” it can show an action in progress or a continuing state.

文学や展示を楽しむ催しと、チケットの確認ポイントを紹介します。

A explains noun B that follows. It is not only possession: the relation can be belonging, target, content and more. In “政府の案” and “年金の税控除”, read the relation from the context.

国際SFフェスティバルは10月29日から11月1日まで。

は shows what the sentence is about; an explanation of that topic follows. は and が are not always interchangeable: contrast and the way information is placed change.