"You are eating the pig."
Translation:Tu manges le cochon.
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Can porc and cochon be used interchangeably? Or does each term have a specific use? Like porc being used for the animal and cochon for the meat or vice versa?
I am not 100% sure, so correct me if I'm wrong but I would think that it makes sense that 'porc' is the pig that you eat, and 'cochon' is the pig that you...uh...don't eat. Therefore "Je mange du porc" and "Il a un cochon".
In English "pork" means only the meat of the animal and can not be used for the living animal. However French does not make that same distinction - in French "cochon" and "porc" are used for both the meat and the living animal.
Porc is the actual meat and cochon is the animal. Normally parisians don't identify it like this.
It is not surprising that Parisians don't identify it like that.
The distinction between pork and pig is an English one. Just as there is a distinction in English between mutton and sheep.
In English, pork = the meat of a pig, mutton = the meat of a sheep.
However in French there is no such distinction. Le porc and le mouton can refer to either the meat or the living animals.
Obviously the two English words are derived from the French but the meaning changed when adopted into English.
We must be careful not to import an English distinction into French.
The difference between le porc and le cochon is more like the difference in English between hog, swine and pig. In other words not much difference and it depends on who you ask.
Yes cochon and porc mean the same.
It maybe that cochon is more common in some circumstances and porc in others. I would not be surprised if one was more common in particular parts of France or if there is an urban/rural distinction in the use of the two words.
However for our purposes what matters is that they mean the same thing.
I understand that porc is a meat and cochon - an animal, but when and how to use them in the sense of meal - that's i'd like to know as well
What's wrong with "Tu manges la cochonne"? Wouldn't that be accurate and indicate a female pig?
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The noun cochon (pig) is masculine therefore is always le cochon. A female pig is la truie for which the English equivalent is sow. Noun cochon always masculine. Noun truie always feminine.
Oh ok...i get that. I also just want to point out that they seem to have "cochon/-onne" in their options when you click the word. That is kinda why I figured "la cochonne" was acceptable. Btw what does that even mean, la cochonne (if it's even a word lol)?
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As near as I can figure the masculine form cochon is a pig as well as a pejorative term while the feminine form la cochonne carries only the negative connotations that are common to English.
La truie is the form when you actually want to refer to a female pig. It is strictly a zoological term.
Why is it not du cochon? I thought that "le" would imply that you are eating ALL the pork there is?
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Le cochon also means the pig = that pig right there, the one we know about. Context tells which usage is intended. Without context of some kind it can mean either one.
Edit: in this case the context is eating pig. You can't very well eat all the pork in the world as with this action verb, so like most of the action verbs, le means the pig (the one right there, the one we know about)
I get the impression that "... du porc," should also be correct, but maybe just in regular conversation and not academic/technical translation.
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You can eat du porc (some pork) or you le porc (that pork right there) depending on context.
However you can't aime du porc because aime is an appreciation verb which cannot be limited in that way.
Stand alone appreciation verb + du/de la = incorrect. - aime du porc
Action verb + le/la or du/de la = correct. - mange du porc
Appreciation verb + action verb + du/de la = correct - aime manger du porc
this sounds wrong. they should use pork instead of pig because pig just sounds like you are eating a live pig
It is true that in English "pork" means the meat and not the living animal. However "pig" can be used for both the meat and the living animal.
I used porc in this sentence and it was correct. So Ddesgagne is correct.
"Le porc" and "le cochon" are both right. In French both words can be used for the meat of the pig. Both words can also be used for the living animal.
I think that Ddesgagne was suggesting that there is a distinction as there is in English where the word "pork" can only be used to mean the meat and not the living animal.
French does not have the same distinction as English in this case.
"You are eating the pig" is the continuous form meaning that the action is currently in progress (at the present time, during my speech).
This form is built with : verb BE + action verb in gerund
In French, such a verbal form does not exist.
Therefore, either you use "tu manges/vous mangez" or you use the phrase: être en train de: tu es en train de manger / vous êtes en train de manger, which express the English continuous notion correctly.
Why does it not allow you to say "l'cochon" but you are required to type "l'e'le'phant"??
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For ease of pronunciation le éléphant is elided to l'éléphant. There is no difficulty is saying le cochon. L'éléphant has le ending with a vowel colliding with éléphant which starts with a vowel. Since le cochon has the vowel of le meeting the consonant of cochon there is no need to use an elision of the two words.
Vowel meets vowel = elison. Vowel meets consonant = no elision.
L' is compulsory in front of a word starting with a vowel or a non-aspired H:
- l'éléphant (masc), l'homme (masc), l'araignée (fem), l'huile (fem)
The reason is to avoid a sound hiatus between two vowel sounds (EU-é / EU-o / A-a A-u)
What is the difference between when you use "du" after manger and when you don't?
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Using du in the example given would change the sentence.
Du = de le = of the = some. Du cochon = some pig.
Pourqoi ma reponse "vous etes en train de manger le porc" n'ete pas acceptee?
"vous êtes en train de manger le porc/cochon" is correct. you may report it if you can
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It is not wrong. Just unexpected in this lesson. Hopefully, the Duo machine phoned home for instructions after it calmly removed one of your available hearts. You should consider the machine to have low expectations with regard to possible answers to Duo examples.
