"Le garçon mange du pain."
Translation:The boy is eating bread.
29 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
It sounded a lot like "pomme," even though it is really pain (subtle difference, but certainly key).
I thought that first when it was asking me to listen and type it back in French.
Me too... I wish there was more context... such as a picture of a boy eating an apple.
Because "du" means some. Du pain means - some bread and not "the loaf of bread".
22
The conjunction "du", in this context, is idiomatically equivalent to "some" (though it does not mean "some" literally, but, "of the" or "from the"), just as "des" is, literally, "from the (plural)" or "of the (plural)" but also functions as "some".
I think "eats of the bread" is incorrect because it sounds funny in english. You would just say he "eats bread".
Saying "He eats bread" or "He is eating bread" is correct. I've never tried "He eats of the bread." When you translate something into another language, then translate it back, there's a possibility the sentence has different grammar then the original sentence you wrote. (Example: English to Japanese to English again.)
I put "The boy eats the loaf of bread" and got knocked back an incorrect response. Can someone please explain this better to me?
The boy would not eat a whole loaf of bread. He is eating some of the bread. (Du = some)
How do you know when it is "The boy eats bread" or "The boy is eating bread"? I'm getting confused between the two.
*in french the two sentences are the same. and can be translated as "le garcon mange du pain" .
*also you can translate "The boy is eating bread" as "le garcon est en train de manger du pain" .
*note : we use the expression "etre en train de " to express present continous tense.
- 22
English has two present tenses: simple ("I write") and continuous ("I am writing"), but French has no specialized continuous verb tenses. This means that "I write", "I am writing", and "I do write" can translate to j'écris (not je suis écris) and vice versa.
However, the idiomatic phrase « être en train de » is often used to indicate that someone is in the process of doing something.
<pre>Je suis en train de manger. — I am [in the process of] eating.
</pre>
When translating, remember that English stative verbs have no continuous forms. For instance, « j'aime un garçon » cannot be translated as "I am loving a boy".
TL/DR: The phrase "I write" and "I am writing" are said the same way in French, namely, "J'écris." Context will determine which nuance is appropriate.
I can never differentiate when they say les or le, since the "s" is silent. Any tips?
- 839
When they say les it's more similar to the e in best, in le it sounds to me as more like in "learn". But French and English are not my mother tongue
You can hear the woman saying the plural of the word. (Le garçon, Les garçons)
how do I difference "le garcon mange" between "les garcons mangent" ? they sound the same!!!!!
the advice I was given "that works" is to google translate la, then le, then les. le, sound like luh, les is like leh (or lait, just don't confuse it with milk though) & la sounds like la.
what is the differences of "du" and "de" it could be le garcon mange de pain as well, right?
Le and les... x.x. I believed le = /lo/ and les = /le/ but I still not able to differentiate.
