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Okay, which adjectives go in front and which ones go in the back of noun? It it can be very confusing.
You should read this, it is helpful: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_4.htm
Here's a little rhyme to help you remember which go in front:
Mauvais, méchant, vilain, beau,/ Petit, haut vieux, joli, gros,/ Nouveau, gentil, jeune et bon,/ Grand et meilleur, vaste et long,
Autre
[it doesn't fit in anywhere :)]
Also, dernier and premier go in front (as far as I know), and propre means "own" if it goes in front (ma propre chambre = my own bedroom), and tidy or something if it comes after the noun...
(Sorry, I've had to put / in because it won't let me put them on different lines.)
Put two spaces after the end of the line.
Then, it will move the next one down.
One of the "correct" translations should not be "the water hot, if you please!". This sentence doesn't belong in English.
It's not very common, but in some circumstances it can be excepted, so that plus the fact that it's the direct translation must be why it's allowed. I agree that it's not really something we'd say, though.
In this sentence, "chaud" is an adjective, which has to agree with the noun it modifies: un manteau chaud (masculine singular), une eau chaude (feminine singular).
Ok, I get that. I guess I didn't understand that eau was feminine because of the l'. I assume it's l'eau and not la eau because of the consonant/vowel requirements of the language?
Yup, both "le" and "la" contract to "l'" if placed directly before a word with a vowel.
Yikes. I thought all the l' contractions were le. Guess I have more studying to do...
"L'eau est chaude" = "the water is hot", while "L'eau chaude" = "hot water". Hope that helps, it's tricky stuff ...
the script is so small I have trouble making out the type of the accent...is it possible to make the script any larger...I can only see with one eye.
On your keyboard, hold down "ctrl" and while holding it down press "+" several times.
Yes, a bit different:
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l'eau chaude means that a container of hot water was previously prepared to be used when asked for = the hot water
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de l'eau chaude means "an undefined quantity of water" = some water.
It was long time ago, but at my school we translated this as "here you are", not "if you please"
Did it tell you that there was a spelling error, but accept the answer? I've had it do that before, but it's kind of unpredictable what it considers a spelling error vs. what it considers an incorrect answer.
so only words like "l'eau" be translated as water instead of the water as opposed to "la femme"? or can "la femme" be just women as well?
"la femme" (singular) cannot be women (plural).
"la femme" can be "the woman" if she is specified: la femme est assise sur un banc = the woman is sitting on a bench
"les femmes" can be "women" depending on the French meaning:
- men are stronger than women = les hommes sont plus forts que les femmes. that is a generality (universal truth about men/women in general), to be constructed with definite article le/la/les in French.
"women" can be "des femmes" (plural of "une femme") when it just mean "more than one woman"
- des femmes ont reçu des fleurs = (some) women have received (some) flowers
because the English was "the water", probably referring to a specific water already mentioned earlier in the conversation.
thanks for your help. I'm still a bit confused, but its making more sense now
"plaire à quelqu'un" is the basic verb: cette robe me plaît (lit. this dress pleases me) = I like this dress
"chaud" is the masculine of "chaude".
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un vin chaud
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une soupe chaude
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des vins chauds
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des soupes chaudes
