"What does he own?"
Translation:Il possède quoi ?
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thanks. this is confusing but that rule seems easy enough. I always thought the quoi was for the direct object and que was for the subject.
I tried Que possede-il? and it was marked wrong. It suggests possede-t-il? What is the t for here?
I knew that "que possede-il" was wrong, but had no idea how to explain why "t-il" was right. I had to look it up (thank you for that!). Here's what I found: http://grammaire.reverso.net/5_6_03_t_euphonique.shtml
The brief explanation (in case you can't read it) is that the "t" doesn't signify anything and doesn't represent a word, and is used only in 3rd person singular when the subject comes after the verb.. The term is called "t euphonique". If the subject comes after the verb (like in your sentence "possède-t-il", and the verb doesn't end with a "t" or "d" (like "faut"), then you have to add the "t" and there has to be a hyphen in between the verb, the "t", and "il".
Thanks again for asking, because I didn't know the grammatical reasoning behind it. Hope it helps!
Thank you. Strange kind of rule, I guess it is just there for the sound, because the two vowel sounds would sound weird back to back.
It's like using a/an in English. The "n" doesn't change the meaning; it's a sound that helps pronunciation. "A apple" is hard to say--weird, if you like. "An apple" just has the extra but meaningless sound of "n". Same with "t" in French with vowel sounds.
The t is there because in french you have to split the vowel at the end of the one word and vowel at the begining of the second one
Because it can't be an E beside an I because they are vowels so the T must be between them
It's because you're using inversion. You can either ask:
- "Que possède-t-il ?"
OR
- "Il possède quoi ?"
and alternatively
- "Qu'est-ce qu'il possède ?"
And why not 'Que il possède?' If I used the proper If I use a proper intonation I should be able to make a question that way as well, should I not?
You never ask with "que" unless you use inversion.
- Que possède-t-il ?
If you were to rely on intonation, you'd ask:
- Il possède quoi ? (Strong intonation on the "quoi")
OR
- Il possède ... ? (Strong intonation on "posséde")
979
regardless of the rest of your sentence, one works never say 'que il'. if anything, that would be 'qu'il'. as in 'qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans la poche?'
I entered "qu'est qu'il possède?" and it was marked incorrect, but I can't figure out why?
possèder et avoir has the same meaning. Je possède une maison = j'ai une maison. But duo refuse "qu'est ce qu'il a"
- 979
2 native speakers, 2 same responses. que possède t-il? et qu'est-ce qu'il possède ? No quoi.
In my opinion, the use of "Il possède quoi ?" would be for something like this:
-
Il possède une maison grande.
-
[You didn't listen very well, therefore...] Il possède quoi ?
You'd use a strong intonation on the "quoi".
Why no "possède-t-il quoi?" please help me understand if it is correct and it is duolingo's error
That's need a long text to explain this. "Possède-il quelque chose" = "does he own something". "Possède-il une maison" = "Does he own a house". You need an object after "possède-il". But not an interrogative pronoun
- 979
Quoi needs a proposition before it in written French always, and in correct spoken French. .De, à, sur, etc... "De quoi parle-t'il?". Of what is he speaking? Or we may say What is he speaking ABOUT? (preposition) Que is "what" that does not need a proposition. Some people may say "tu fais quoi?" What are you doing? in casual conversation. But Duolingo is trying to teach us proper speech.
You ask "Que possède-t-il ?" because the interrogative pronoun always goes before the verb when using inversion.
Between fighting my phone to get the diacritics in and these curve balls you are making it difficult to stick with it. I would rather use the website on the computer because I can concentrate more on these curve balls but it doesn't award bonuses and give encouragement like the app does so most of my learning time is spent fighting with my phone just to get it typed. Isn't this supposed to be easy and fun?
- 979
You must have an apple. I have an android, and it allows me to have a French key board and an English one. I press on the little globe next to the space bar and thus i get all the necessary marks easily.
No, I have an android. I can't think in apple (in that you're not supposed to). I just happen to be 6'4" and have too large of hands to press a tiny globe and hit it exactly each and every time. I can't even type on the keyboard. I have to swipe. While I can type very fast (around 80-120 cwpm) I dislike my phone because whatever language my typing speed is about 15 cwpm for having to correct all the mistakes from trying to move in a space that my thumb is bigger than. It took about a minute and a half to write "Est-ce qu'il dort avec ses chaussettes?" because my phone couldn't work out the contraction.
- 979
You should still be able to flip the keyboard to French. It puts in all the marks automatically and uses a French dictionary to offer suggestions.
- 979
That is hard. My fingers are kind of fat. So i love swiping and sometimes use a special regular ink pen that has a cushion on top just for tablets and phones. You may find that easier
Marty, i don't use Apple for the same reason. But i swipe using Gboard on my Android with the little globe mentioned by someone else.
Tried "Possède-t-il quoi" and got it wrong - was quoi just the wrong word for "what" in this case?
You ask "Que possède-t-il ?" because the interrogative pronoun always goes before the verb when using inversion.
That would mean 'he is owner of what?' Propriétaire is a noun, whereas what they are looking for is a verb. Hope that helps.
You can either ask:
- "Que possède-t-il ?"
OR
- "Il possède quoi ?"
and alternatively
- "Qu'est-ce qu'il possède ?"
Does the order of the words here emphasize "he?" Ex., "What does HE own?" I'm trying to learn how languages other than English place emphasis.
"WHAT does he own?" "What does HE own?" "What does he OWN?"
'QUE possede-t-il?' (What does he possess?/What does he own?) You don't know if that person own anything at all, but you ask anyways.
'Il possède QUOI?' (He owns what?/What does he own?) You know the person owns something, but you're still asking to find out what it is.
