"La fille mange."

Translation: The girl is eating.

[srf888]

There is no present continuous in French? Wow!

[Leisa906845]

I can't get this accent, man! Mess up every time I have to listen to French.

[Remy]

It helps to understand if you use the "slower" button.

[Miri-zohar130]

where is the slower button ? i dont see it .. :-\

[Remy]

In challenges where you have to "Listen and type in French", there is:

• a big button with a speaker: you can use this button to listen to the sentence at the normal speed.

• under this button, there is a smaller speaker and the word "slower" (with a turtle): if you hit either the small speaker or the word "slower", then you can listen to the sentence at a slower pace.

[dunkaroos]

thanks for the help napoleon

[AjayKapur1]

Place your mouse on or touch a single word to hear it's pronunciation.

[Miri-zohar130]

why there is no is "est" in the sentence before the girl ? dont i need to to say the girl is eating = la fille est manges??
i dont get is and if not how can i know when to use the est and when not before the word when i'm describes what she or he is doing ?

[Remy]

In French, there is no continuous tense (for example, we say: "Je mange", whether in a definite or indefinite period of time.).

You can use the idiomatic phrase "être en train de" to express the idea of continuity. (ex: "Je suis en train de manger." for "I am eating.")

If you hover over the English progressive tense (ex: "am eating"), you will get the hints for the French conjugated tense ("mange").

So, if the meaning of the sentence is "in general", then use the English present simple, for ex: "(In general) I eat rice."

If the meaning of the sentence is "in a definite moment", then use the English present continuous, for ex: "(Now) I am eating rice."

[MikeMMXIV]

"Mange" means IS eating

[mitaine56]

mikemmxIv- it depends on the context. If I ask you : what does the girl do at noon every day? elle mange. She isn't eating right now. If I ask you what's doing the girl, right now, she is eating / elle est en train de manger. So be careful with these 2 tenses, watch the context before answering.

[Taqveem.Pasha]

can anyone tell me when to use "manges" and when "mange"?

[Remy]

There are conjugation forms for each verb. When you want to know how to conjugate a verb, hover your mouse over it: click on the "conjugate " option, and you'll get a conjugation table.

ex: "manger" (to eat) :

• 1st pers. sing.: Je mange (I eat)
• 2nd pers. sing.: Tu manges (you eat)
• 3rd pers. sing.: Il/Elle/On mange (he/she/one eats)
• 1st pers. plur.: Nous mangeons (we eat)
• 2nd pers. plur.: Vous mangez (you eat)
• 3rd pers. plur.: Ils/Elles mangent. (they eat)

Please also have a look at this comment:

• http://www.duolingo.com/#/comment/190591

[IScottI]

Thank you for taking the time to help Remy. I was getting confused with why I could not use "manges".

[Anamika87]

I am having trouble pronouncing "mange"...how to pronounce it..? Is the letter 'n' silent?

[Remy]

The sound "an" in "mange" belongs to the French "nasal vowels", which are sounds made by expelling air through the mouth and nose with no obstruction of the lips, tongue, or throat.

Usually, vowels followed by "M" or "N" are nasal. When the nasal consonant is followed by another vowel, the vowel and consonant are both voiced. For example:

• "un" (nasal): http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/un
• "une" (voiced): http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/une (click on the speaker button to hear the audio)

You can practice your pronunciation skills with this link for the sound "an":

• "an": http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/an

French has 4 nasal vowels:

"en" and "an":

• "en": e.g., in "vendre" (to sell). "en" becomes "em" before a "M" and a "P": e.g., in "emporter" (to bring)
• "an" becomes "am" before a "M" and a "P": e.g., in "jambe" (leg)

"oin", "ein", "ain", and "in":

• "oin": e.g., in "moins" (less)
• "ein": e.g., in "peindre" (to paint)
• "ain": e.g., in "pain" (bread)
• "in": e.g., in "fin" (fine). "in" becomes "im" before a "M" and a "P": e.g., in "imprimer" (to print)

"on":

• "on": e.g., in "garçon" (boy). "on" becomes "om" before a "M" and a "P": e.g., in "pompe" (pump)

"un":

• "un": e.g., in "un" (one) or "brun" (brown)

[theripper37]

I was taught the expression "être en train de" as the way to translate the present progressive, e.g. "Je suis en train de manger" would mean "I am eating", whereas "Je mange" would be "I eat". I want to get clarification on this, please.

[Remy]

The English present progressive "(the girl) is eating" translates usually to the French present tense "(la fille) mange", which is the same tense that we would use to translate the English simple present "(the girl) eats".

But you can also say "(la fille) est en train de manger" (idiomatic phrase), if you want to insist on the fact that the action is currently happening.

[theripper37]

So I can use either one and it'll be correct? Merci beaucoup, Remy!

[mitaine56]

theripper37, no, it depends of the context. If I ask you what do you usually eat for breakfast? You'll say : I eat muffins, je mange des muffins. You won't answer, je suis en train de manger des muffins, because you're not eating right now.

[quack17]

I keep getting confused with either "fille" or "femme". Is there a good way to tell which one is which?

[Remy]

The second letter is "i" in "girl" and "fille".

[Annanya]

how should mange be spoken?..it's not clear from audio

[Remy]

You can practice your listening and pronunciation skills with this link:

• http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/mange

(Click on the speaker button)

[Pascal1331]

Is there no passive voice in French or are these exercises only in active voice?

[Remy]

There is a passive voice, that is taught later in the skill tree.

FYI:

• active voice: "Le fille mange une pomme." = "The girl eats an apple".
• passive voice: "Une pomme est mangée par la fille." = "An apple is eaten by the girl".