"Tu manges du riz."
Translation:You are eating rice.
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no, it's not at all. it sound's like "an-eu" "aneu". eu sounds like the "eu" in bleu. correct me if i'm wrong, because i'm still learning too :)
This is kinda super late and may not help you anymore, but because du is de+le, and "le" is masculine, you find the masculine noun to complete the sentence. Salade is feminine, and alcool would be something you would drink, not eat. Therefore "riz" would be the correct answer.
Here's a quick table thing to help you understand this a little better (hopefully)
de+la=de la de+le=du de+les-des
Hope that clears stuff up. :)
nope, but I could see the potential confusion. Although I'm loving this site so far, I think one weakness of duolingo is the lack of enunciation in the voice of the speaker.
If I try, I can REALLY enunciate words in english and make it very clear how to say them, I feel that emphasis is lacking here.
Still, I understand most words, so it's good enough ;)
Here's the Tips Notes from this skill (Food). I suggest, if you access Duolingo through the mobile app, to check the skill you are doing on your mobile browser to see these. You could see this one here.
The Partitive Article
The partitive article is used for unspecified amounts of uncountable nouns. In English, it can translate to "some", but it's often just omitted. Remember that du is a contraction of de + le and that partitives can elide.
| Gender | Partitive Article | Example |
| Masculine | du | Je mange du poisson. — I am eating fish. |
| Feminine | de la | Je mange de la viande. — I am eating meat. |
| Elided Masc. | de l' | Je mange de l'ananas. — I am eating pineapple. |
| Elided Fem. | de l' | Je bois de l'eau. — I am drinking water. |Nouns almost never appear without articles in French, so articles must be repeated in serial lists.
- Il cuisine du poisson et de la viande — He cooks fish and meat.
Count Noun, Mass Noun, or Both?
Count nouns are discrete and can be counted, like un livre ("a book"). They can be modified by definite and indefinite articles, but not partitive articles.
- Je lis un livre. — I am reading a book.
- Nous avons les livres. — We have the books.
Mass nouns like lait ("milk") are uncountable, and they can be modified by definite and partitive articles, but not indefinite articles.
- Je bois du lait. — I am drinking [some] milk.
- Je bois le lait. — I am drinking the milk.
However, many nouns can behave as both count nouns and mass nouns. This is true for most edible things. For instance, consider poisson ("fish") or vin ("wine"):
- Count noun: Le poisson est rouge. — The fish is red.
- Mass noun: Je mange du poisson. — I eat [some] fish.
- Count noun: Le vin est blanc. — The wine is white.
- Mass noun: Je bois du vin rouge ou blanc. — I drink red or white wine.
Note that some mass nouns can be pluralized in English when they refer to multiple types of the noun, but this usage isn't found in French. For instance, "the fishes" refers to multiple species of fish, while les poissons just refers to multiple fish.
Omitted Articles
When an article is missing in an English sentence, it must be added to the French translation. The definite article can be used to fill this void in three situations:
- Almost anywhere one would use "the" in English (i.e. when referring to specific things).
- Before the subject of a sentence to state general truths about it.
- Before the direct object of a verb of appreciation (like aimer) to express like/dislike.
If any of the above is true, then use the definite article. Otherwise, use the indefinite or partitive, depending on whether or not the noun is countable.
- I like wine, but I am drinking milk. — J'aime le vin, mais je bois du lait.
Both articles are missing in the English version of this example. Aimer expresses fondness for wine, so le vin should be used there. However, boire is not a verb of appreciation, so the partitive du should be used on the uncountable lait.
- Cats are animals. — Les chats sont des animaux.
This is a general truth about cats, but #2 above can only apply to subjects, so only chats takes a definite article here. Animaux are countable, so use the plural indefinite des.
- He likes to eat meat. — Il aime manger de la viande.
This is a tricky example because the meat is the direct object of manger, not aimer. Thus, #3 does not apply and viande cannot take a definite article.
Also, the French definite article can be ambiguous when translating from French to English. It can often refer to both a specific noun and the general sense of a noun.
- Les chats sont des animaux. — Cats are animals. / The cats are animals.
De + Definite Article
De plus a definite article can also have other meanings. De means "of" or "from", so this can also indicate possession or association with a definite noun.
- La copie du livre. — The copy of the book.
- Les copies des livres. — The copies of the books.
- L'enfant de la femme. — The woman's child.
'Du', Is this specific to use with food or can be used in other contexts. Eg.: 'Je lisent du livre'. Is it right? Also, if anyone explains in what ways can 'du' be used? Omlette du fromage = cheese omelette So by going by this, will sandwich du fromage translates to sandwich cheese, but I want to convey cheese sandwich.
First, despite its widespread popularity amongst English speakers, omelette du fromage is very wrong in French. The right way to say it is omelette au fromage.
Second, partitive articles (du, de la, de l' and des) can be used with anything, but only if they are uncountable or treated in an uncountable way, like water, sand, iron, wind, etc.
Du is a contraction of de and le, like au, which is a contraction of à and le.
There is no simple, straightforward way to tell, just by looking at the word (like its spelling or last syllable). There are a few patterns, but the most precise of them is only good less than 80% of the time, so I wouldn't bother spending time to memorize them.
Just like English spelling, if you don't learn them while you learn the word, you can check in a dictionary, it will always be indicated (usually by a small m. or f., sometimes n m/n f : "noun, masculine"; "noun, feminine").
Salade is a feminine word. The question is tu manges du ____. Du=de+le, which means that the answer would have to be feminine, because le is the masculine word for the. Salade is feminine, and so you wouldn't be able to apply it in this context. Here's a quick table to help you out in the future. de la=de+la de le=de+le de+les= des
Hope that clears some stuff up. :)
de/du can have two meanings. One, like you mentioned, is showing possession. For example, "le livre de Sam" would be translated as "the book of Sam." However, de/du can also mean "some" or "any." So in this context, where it says "Tu manges du riz" it's actually saying "you eat some rice" rather than "you eat of the rice."
Salade is a feminine word. The question is tu manges du ____. Du=de+le, which means that the answer would have to be feminine, because le is the masculine word for the. Salade is feminine, and so you wouldn't be able to apply it in this context. Here's a quick table to help you out in the future. de la=de+la de le=de+le de+les= des
Hope that clears some stuff up. :)
Du is de+le. Le is a masculine article, meaning that the noun that comes after it must also be masculine. Salade is feminine, which eliminates that answer. And if you "manges" something, it means you eat it. You can't eat alcool, so the only possible answer is riz. Riz also happens to be food, and a "masculine" word.