"Ils nous écrivent un livre."

Translation:They write us a book.

January 30, 2013

16 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/UXO

Why does it have to be "Ils nous écrivent un livre." when it could just as easily be "Il nous écrive un livre."? They sound identical!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sitesurf

Why not ? Because that does not exist. The singular form is "il nous écrit" which sounds differently (no V sound)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/u83rmensch

does this website have any resources to teach the syntax of this language becuase a word for word translation here does not make any sense


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sitesurf

No there is not, but you can search on the web. One of learners' favorites is: http://french.about.com/sitesearch.htm?q=French+verbs+%2B+prepositions&SUName=french Just type your topic in the top bar and you will find syntax and grammar tips.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/avesha

Surf, why would you write Ils or Elles in place of ce?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PopcornGuy

Not word-for-word, but it makes sense. You just have to know that, in French, indirect objects precede the verb. "They write us a book," becomes, "they us write a book": "Ils nous ecrivent un livre."


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Gareth321

I'm just beginning to have difficulty with the syntax as it's so different to English.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/BJTEACH

Why doesn't Il nous ecrit un livre. work in the answer.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sitesurf

singular is "il nous écrit" while plural is "ils nous écriVent" (you should hear the V sound)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/petitechou60

duh! j'ai oublié merci


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/francais1287

How are you supposed to know whether it is il (singular) or ils (plural)? They sound the same...


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sitesurf

You are supposed to read the thread before posting: the answer to your question appears several times.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/petitechou60

how do you differentiate the sound of il to ils? merci


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Sitesurf

Please read below.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Vlad_the_Impala

Does anyone else think "they write us a book" is bad English? It certainly jars for me, but this is perhaps because my mother tongue is a minority variety of English. I'd say "they're writing a book for us".

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