"Mon garçon a un nouveau manteau."

Translation: My boy has a new coat.

[mickeleh]

Isn't "My waiter has a new coat" also correct?

[Sitesurf]

Do you own a waiter? Does he work with his coat on?

[mickeleh]

I do not own him, but he is assigned to my table. Although he wasn't wearing it while working, he did mention, in an effort to boost his tip, that he had a stunning new coat that was similar to mine.

[Sitesurf]

Allright then, so in that case, please say "mon SERVEUR a un nouveau manteau (le même que le mien) ".
The French do not often use "garçon" for waiter nowadays. They may still use the word to call the guy "Garçon ! deux bières, s'il vous plaît", although French waiters do not like that much, in my experience. To try and not trigger their (natural) bad mood, my tip is as follows: "Ssss'il vous plaît ???" (the guy has to turn his head in my direction) - big smile - "On peut avoir 2 bières, s'il vous plaît ?" (tone @ manner: the guy MUST be sure he is doing you a favor and will be thanked for that with a nice tax-free tip).

Welcome to the most visited country in the world...

[shriramk]

Unfortuntely, Sitesurf, duo lists "waiter" as one of the translations of "garçon". I've seen this only once, so maybe they are slowly excising it, but I have definitely seen it. (Headline: "Duolingo user poisoned in Paris".)

[Sitesurf]

It is not wrong to say "garçon" to mean waiter, it is just old fashioned and waiters do not like it much. In addition, may waiters are girls, so... you use "la serveuse" and you call her "mademoiselle !"

[tracidmartin]

I would take a gamble calling a waiter monsieur, or sir before I called him garçon. I find a similar phenomenon in Spanish/ American English. Many men, say 'Eey lady or. Ok Lady, It sounds very uneducated. We say Ma'am, which just sounds like Mam, or Miss. or Ms.

[mickeleh]

excellent. Thanks.

[EggsOverGreasy]

I'm new to this system. I found the dictation to be quite unclear.

[MarthaGuzm681011]

I still don't have clear when to use nouvel or nouveau for masculine nouns, can some one explai?

[Sitesurf]

"Nouvel" is used before a masculine word starting with a vowel sound.

• mon nouvel ami.
• le nouvel hôtel.

[ClaudiaRin876139]

Thank you, I was asking myself about masculine Nouvel and nouveau, I did this "chart":
feminine masculine
singular nouvelle nouveau ( with consonant) nouvel (with vowel)
plural nouvelles nouveaux
As suggestion, Duo must add the explanation or reminder in the Dictionary section. Merci beaucoup!!! ;)