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- "Elle peut manger des crêpes,…
"Elle peut manger des crêpes, mais elle veut manger du chocolat."
Translation:She can eat crepes, but she wants to eat chocolate.
136 Comments
Thank you! Thats available from Germany. I will save the videos to my pc ;-)
On Youtube are currently only a view videos. Almost all videos are viewable on this site: http://www.soku.com/search_video/q_french%20in%20action
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I have vouloir in my notes but didn't remember having seen it as a helping verb. I thought "The chicken eats crepes... " Gotta work on my audio.
Liaison is option after "mais" (but required with most other conjunctions). http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-liaisons-o.htm
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A liaison is where you pronounce the last consonant of a word you normally wouldn't due to certain conditions being met (like for example, the next word beginning with a vowel or a silent h)....
To learn more: http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-liaisons.htm
you can find dictations online, with real voices - just google la dictee (there should be an accent there somewhere ;)) I found them for my (English) daughter, who is doing the Brevet this year, after only 4 -5 years in France...she struggles with dictation in french. I do them too, as I think I need even more practice, than she does!! They come with a pdf of corrections, so you can check you got it right! Also, try http://www.lepointdufle.net - loads of backup stuff on there!
Yes www.ladictee.fr is a treasure of dictations for french speakers. They have dictations for really young children/other beginners up to adults.
I recently found this resource for listening to spoken French: http://www.newsinslowfrench.com/ Hope it's helpful!
Ok ima stop for a sec. Stand up. Move back and look at this sentence closely. Why is peut manger - can eat while veut manger - want TO eat.
Sure I stuck in that TO for good measure because it sounds wierd otherwise in english, however if I'm given this to translate from english to french how would I know that I need to drop the TO. Or is dropping the TO always the case?
In French, I think that every consecutive verb after the first will be in the infinitive form. In English, a consecutive verb will be in the infinitive UNLESS the first verb is modal (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would). You might find it makes more sense if you translate "peut manger" as "is able to eat".
When translating English > French, "to" may be treated differently based on the verb it follows. "He starts to play" > "Il commence a jouer". "He stops playing" > "Il s'arrete de jouer". "He is able to play" > "Il peut jouer".
Why on earth has somebody downvoted your comment? Your complaint happens to me and the only remedy I have found is to log off, shut down and after some seconds start up again and log on again. Of course you then have to restart your lesson. Probably you already knew that but I posted it just in case. Also to let you know that you are not alone with this problem.
Hi JRPlanet. No, the horrible truth is that a post gets downvoted if it is not liked. This could be for many credible reasons and some incredible ones but there is no way of knowing. I can understand upvoting... this could be that the post was very helpful or just fun but for the life of me I can see no constructive point in downvoting. If I dont like a post I can ignore it. I see no constructive reason to opinionate anonimously and unspecifically. It is stupid. If the excellent sitesurf disagrees with a post she states her case and we are all the wiser. Recently anonimity and competitiveness amongst the banking world has all but brought the world to it's knees. Not good for progress nor community..Anyway, I appreciated your post because it let me know that the problem was not mine alone, so thanks for it.
I soooo agree with much of what you said. Online anonymity has been detrimental to communication and community. People too often feel that they don't need to be kind or courteous because they can make their vile comments anonymously. I'm pleased that by far the majority of the time Duolingo users are polite and reasonable, even though we're anonymous. It makes me have hope for humanity. :-)
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Because it comes after the verbs "peut" and "veut" so you do not conjugate the verbs after the first ones (am with you, though, confusing language:)).
Yes, "peut" and "veut" are what we English speakers call "helping" verbs -- they "help" the infinitive -- and are the words you conjugate. The infinitive stays the same. It's really the same in English. "Eat" is the infinitive and the helping verbs further clarify: Can eat, want to eat, should eat, must eat, etc. Hope that makes sense.
hello i am spanish speaker and i must tell "mais" is look like "mas" in spanish that means "but" but it's nobody really uses "mas" anymore they instead use "pero" which also means but and makes me think that "mais" is like "mas" as that is very outdated but i could be wrong too will i look stupid if i say "mais" ? thank
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all this talk and still no-one has explained why there is No liaison between "mais" and "elle"? come on guys, help here please
It's only because the English translation sounds a bit awkward. In French, you use the full infinitive with the helping verb ("peut manger"), but in English, you don't say "can to eat"; instead, you say "can eat". That's true of "can," "must," and "should." However, with "want" as the helping verb, you DO use the full infinitive: "want to eat". Sorry English is such pain with all the exceptions...!
I am sorry to say but this is a WASTE OF TIME to do the tests until DUO doesn't accept the good answers. I dropped out twice when they took the correct sentences incorrect.I translated twice this kind of sentences: Que faut-il manger ensuite ?" >Que< is object after there is an inversion of the expression of "it is necessary to.".. so it is logical that the subject here:" IT " They crossed out the "it" so the sentence remained WITHOUT SUBJECT, and this was the good translation.
"Que faut-il manger ensuite ? What is it necessary to eat after." - why is it wrong? Why "it" had been crossed out?
The third was: He must be here soon. = Il faut qu'il soit ici bientôt.
Are these wrong translations? Please explain me why?
Some time is always the first, and the way Duolingo teaches, it might be in an exercise without translation first. We are then supposed to make some research as to why things are as they are - if we do not understand it from the given correct translation. One way is to read these discussions, then ask for clarifications if they do not suffice, another way is to look it up outside of Duolingo. All ways are good and allowed, in order for us to learn.
UIUIYY This isn't difficult. When you eat or take a little amount from sth you use the partitive, Which is the partitive? "Elle peut manger DES crêpes, mais elle veut manger DU chocolat."
In this sentence there are two partitive: DU =DE+LE and DES =DE+LES.
Altogether there are 4.partitives 1. DU(de+le) Je mange du pain / H can be aspiré/ Je mange du haricot/ du hamburger 2 DE LA = je mange de la viande 3. DE L'= you use before the mots which begins by vowel or H muet : Je boit de l'eau/ "Nous n'apprenons rien de l'histoire 4. DES = when you count what you eat: I mange des crepes, I mange des cerises, etc
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Why is the v in veut silent in this sentence? I listened to the slowed down version several times and still didn't recognise this word as veut.
@magikian. Mmmm. I couldn't listen to the audio on the lesson but I did do so at the top of this page and although it is barely audible, it IS there. How about typing the sentence into a site like forvo or google translate and listening toi that audio a few times, then return to this one to see if the "V" of veut begins to emerge as a sound? Bonne chance.
It's the partitive article meaning 'some crêpes' so it is not an exception. Two examples that I can think of for using "de crêpes" would be; "Il n'a pas de crêpes" (he doesn't have crêpes) or "un plat de crêpes" (a plate of crêpes) I'm not sure what you mean about the adjective. Here's an explanation: http://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/indefinite-article/
French about.com Scroll through their subjects for your requirements. It is a site upon which you can rely. (You can also add to that address "De vs Du/de la...or Les vs Des to shortcut.)