"When do I walk my dog?"

Translation: Quand est-ce que je promène mon chien ?

[Katie.C.]

why can't one say "quand je promène mon chien?"

[tariqnisarahmed]

Especially since duolingo seems to endorse asking questions in French by inflection as opposed to the grammar changes that Anine and Sitesurf suggested above? Seems inconsistent. Is it because of the Quand?

[jlseymour3]

This is what I wrote and Duo marked it wrong. I understand that 'promene-je' may be more typical, but until now Duo has also allowed questions using the subject-verb construction. Sitesurf?

[Sitesurf]

This issue pops up with every 1st group verb and pronoun "je" in the formal interrogative form.

"promène-je" is impossible to pronounce properly, so the formal way to use it is by changing accents to "promené-je" (fyi, "promené" is the past participle).

But it is still very difficult to say and to understand.

So, we use "est-ce que je promène ?" or "je promène ?", which are much easier.

[Anine]

Why is it wrong to say 'Quand promène-je mon chien?' Is there some rule for this?

[Sitesurf]

It is a rare construction, for euphony (pronunciation) reasons.
anyway, it does exist and the rule is that the French skips the first grave accent and adds an acute accent on the last "e", to ease enunciation: "quand promené-je mon chien ?" (sounds almost like the imparfait tense: quand promenais-je mon chien ?)

[oscar.adk]

why is it wrong to say "quand est-ce que je promène ma chienne?

[Sitesurf]

Academically speaking, you should avoid having two interrogative words at the beginning of a question. However, it is very common, in particular with "je" and verbs of the 1st group, because of he weird form "promené-je" that you would have to use with "quand" alone, in the formal speech.

• quand promené-je mon chien ? (skip the accent on the 1st -e and add an acute accent on the last one, in order to make it sound properly).

• quand promènes-tu ton chien ? (no issue with the sound)

• quand promène-t-il/elle son chien (addition of -t- to avoid misleading 'promènil' or 'promènelle')

• quand promenons-nous notre chien ? (grave accent disappears)

• quand promenez-vous votre chien ? (grave accent disappears)

• quand promènent-ils/elles leur chien ? (no issue with the sound with the T liaison)

[amobms]

It is grammatically correct to say that; however, unless the female-ness of the dog is essential to the clarity of the sentence, I've been lead to understand that you would use "mon chien," because "la chienne," as with the English equivalent, has come to be used primarily as nasty slang for a woman one dislikes or derides. (The same logic apparently works with cats - it's le chat unless you absolutely have to feminize it, as la chatte is slang for female genitalia. There's a nice thread entitled "Beware of Double Meanings" in the "Animals" lesson earlier on that addresses these issues.)

If, however, you're writing misogynistic rap lyrics in French, and need to ask when you take your bitch for a walk, that is the right way...

(many apologies if this is an old comment - but for future readers, I think reiterating "beware of double meanings" as often as possible is worthwhile.)

[colt00]

I think it would be acceptable.

[buffalump21]

I put: "Est-ce que je promène mon chien quand?" but it was marked wrong :-)

[colt00]

I think if you want to put "quand" at the end of the sentence, you would not use "est-ce que". It would be: Je promène mon chien quand ? Correct me if I was wrong.

[ebnzrgzr]

I wrote "Quand je me promener ma chienne" and was marked correct! Is this right?

[Sitesurf]

Unfortunately, it is wrong.

[MelissaSee2]

What is wrong with: A quelle heure est-ce que je me promene le chien? aside from the lack of quotation marks

[Sitesurf]

Either "je me promène" = I walk myself or "je promène le chien" = I walk the dog.

[ampdva1995]

Just wondering, I put "Quand promène-moi mon chien?" And I dont understand how that is wrong :(

[Sitesurf]

stressed pronouns can be used in inversions but only as objects:

• "promène-moi !" would be imperative and mean "walk me!" (your dog talking to you!)

stressed pronouns can be used as subjects, but only as multiple subjects of the same verb:

• "toi et moi allons nous promener" = you and I are going for a walk

[clocket]

Is there anything wrong with je promène mon chien quand?

[Sitesurf]

It is from the relaxed register, not totally wrong but unusual since the real purpose of the question is at the end of the sentence. However, it is acceptable.

[Wonderboy6]

Why is marche wrong here in replacement of promene?

[Sitesurf]

Verb "marcher" is intransitive in French: it cannot have a direct object.

walk the dog = promener le chien

[Wonderboy6]

thanks! So it would only make sense in the construct '...mon chien marche'?

[Sitesurf]

That's right.

mon chien marche, je marche, je marche avec mon chien, je vais me promener avec mon chien, mon chien marche avec moi...