"They eat, so they drink."
Translation:Ils mangent, donc ils boivent.
60 Comments
http://french.about.com/od/mistakes/a/then.htm
alors is more or less interchangeable with the first meanings of ainsi and donc; however, alors is not as strong in its cause/effect - it means "so" or "then" rather than "therefore." In other words, ainsi and donc indicate that something happened, and specifically because of that something else happened. Alors, on the other hand, is more of a "well then I guess this will/did happen."
It makes me laugh every time. She sounds like she's really shocked. "Donc???!!!"
@eansomme
"Elles" and "ils" both mean "they".
"Elles" is feminine. "Ils" is masculine.
So if we are referring to a group of people we would use "elles" for an all female group and "ils" for an all male group.
If the group consists of a mixture of male and female then the usual French rule is to use "ils".
@itastudent
Yes "il mange" and "ils mangent" have exactly the same pronunciation
And if you want to remark/make clear that it's plural, what would you do? Maybe you'll say "Ils mangent, pluriel"?
I had to learn English too... It's an amazing language, as well... Every language is amazing
That means that every language is <<fantastic>> as you said
This remark could be misinterpreted. This could mean «fantastic» or «stupid». When I learn a language, I learn a culture. I must accept that there is a new way of thinking things. And so, of saying things. English is not an except fot non-English people. It's not better, it's not worst, it's just different. If I am not ready to accept this other way of thinking, I will judge and I will not really learn. This judgement will always be between me and this learning. I advise all my French students that they have to be serene compared to the language they study. I think this is really primordial. Now, each student on this site as a choice. A really free choice.
It's amazing to me how language develops and rules and exceptions. There must be a story back there for each...
When you think of it, the first books of the Bible were written, I am told, without vowels and context told the meaning.
And I am quite sure that one lovely lovely Native American language of the many rich languages of the Americas, pre-European, had no tenses but all time-relatedness that conjugations of verbs give us are supplied by other words stuck on verbs...which is in a way a tense. Infixes are put INTO the verb in various regulated order in that language (Sioux languages: Lakhota, Nakota, Dakota) for pronouns to show who is acting and who is receiving action, in a way, but more the result makes it seem like the action and the people in the action are ONE. It's not originating from Latin or Greek. How long does it take for languages to differ enough to be it's own language? I also think it's fascinating. You seem to like languages. What a list!!
Wouldn't alors instead of donc still work? It counted as correct answer in a different question where donc was given.
I was also wondering that. Could any native or advanced speakers weight in please?
Yes, it should be accepted here; they are nearly interchangeable in the way that "therefore" and "ergo" are, but more common
13
Are you querying the use of donc ? if so you may wish to read ThanKwee's helpful comment 4 years ago above.
I chose "Ils mangent, donc ils boivent" and they told me it was wrong yet stated my wrong answer as right.
I think it's because you have to choose all the right answers. So you have to choose both the "ils mangent..." and "elles mangent..." to get the question right.
«Ils» is used as a subject, exemple: «ils mangent, ils boivent, ils dansent, ils rêvent...» «Eux» is used as a complement, exemple: « je parle d'eux= I speak of them», «je pense à eux= I think of them», «ils mangent avec eux = they eat with them»...
Bonjour. I'm French and I don't understand what you mean by «pron sentance». Also, I think in English, we write «sentence». Second, in French «a sentence» is «une phrase». But I still don't understand «pron».
I continuously picked this and they told me i was wrong when i knew the right answer?
Would the pronounciation of the plural and singular tense of this sentence be the same?
Ils mangent donc ils boivent = (same pronounciation?) = Il mange donc il boive
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I would think it would be OK if you were referring to an all male or mixed group as the writers and an all female group as the drinkers.
