"What does he own?"
Translation:Il possède quoi ?
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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!
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?'
979
2 native speakers, 2 same responses. que possède t-il? et qu'est-ce qu'il possède ? No quoi.
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.
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