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- "Je parle français."
142 Comments
I translated it as "I am speaking French" but Duo said I was wrong. It said the translation is "I can speak French." But wouldn't that be "Je pu parler français" ? Or "Je peut parler français"
I am speaking, and i speak are two completely different things. For example, i am speaking english right now, but i can speak a little bit of french.
Just a few sentences ago I got: Il parle le (les?) français" and it translated to the same thing. So, why the article and when is it used?
Just did a bit of reading: while both are correct, and translate to "he speaks French", "il parle [language without article]" is much more common. Sounds like to native speakers, "Il parle le français" connotes "he knows how to speak French", i.e. he learned French.
Since “parle” ends in a consonant sound and the next word “français” begins with a consonant sound, language flow changes the pronunciation of “parle” to [par-le].
This doesn't seem right but I welcome anyone to correct me.
You're talking about liaisons. This occurs when the final letter is a consonant, and if silent, is pronounced with the next word if the next word begins with a vowel or silent h.
Parle ends in a vowel and not a consonant, likewise, francais does not begin with a verb or silent h.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaison_(French)
I think the robo reader is over emphasizing the "l" or is incorrectly reading the "e" at the end of the parle.
No, I am not talking about liaisons which happen when the following word starts with a vowel sound and I am not talking about enchainement which is similar but uses letters that were not otherwise silent.. This is regional as some people will pronounce "par-le" even at the end of a sentence. https://french.stackexchange.com/questions/33886/why-is-the-e-sometimes-pronounced-at-the-end-of-words
Here you can listen to native speakers and half pronounce it this way. https://forvo.com/word/je_parle_fran%C3%A7ais/
The female voice sounds fine. Listen several times in case the sound is getting chopped and put back on itself, but there is often one voice that sounds better than the other and not always the same voice either.
In "français" the cedille makes the c have an s sound, but the spelling is not optional and "ch" is wromg.
No negate a verb you use ne [enter the conjugation for verb] pas
Ex: i do not speak french
je ne parle pas français
Ex: i do not have chocolate
Je n'ai pas le chocolat
"I do not have chocolate." = "Je n'ai pas de chocolat."
https://www.reverso.net/translationresults.aspx?lang=EN&direction=english-french
If you are female should the e be added at the end or not? je parle francais or je parle francaise
The language is always masculine, however when you are using it as an adjective (i am french) then the gender/number of the adjective matches the gender/number of the subject
I had the same issue. I feel this is an error as either should be accepted. The English translation would depend on the context of why you're saying "I speak French" or "I am speaking French". Either could be correct in different scenarios.
I think you're right, but this would almost always mean "I speak French"; you would rarely say "I am speaking French" in French. So I think they want to emphasize that if you just say "je parle français", it will be interpreted as "I speak French".
Bonjour.
Pourquoi - Je parle français, mais, Je lire le français? (i.e., question about articles).
Be careful! “lire” is the infinitive form of the verb “to read”.
“I read” = “je lis”
So, “Je lis le français.”, but I would more likely say “I read in French.”
https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-french/I+read+French
I don't think so. The computer emphasizes the "le" at the end of par-le. But there is no long "a" sound as in par-lay (lez).
Before it was "Je parle anglais" - why is français "le français" and anglais not l'anglais?
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je parle le français would also be a correct answer. But the le you're hearing is in the word "parle".
Pronouns take verbs with different endings. In French more of the pronouns have their own verb endings then in English. We just have to memorize the verb conjugations.
je parle = I speak
tu parles = you speak (singular familiar form)
il parle = he speaks, elle parle = she speaks
nous parlons = we speak
vous parlez = you speak ( plural or formal singular)
ils parlent or elles parlent = they speak
http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french-verb-parler.html
As soon as I click the speak button on my laptop it immediately says I was wrong, any fix for this?
Tried it, it works just fine on my phone though, it's likely just a problem with my laptop.
Merci
Take a screenshot and scroll down to the help button below and scroll down to create a bug report. The screenshot should have all the parameters of your system.
I have not been able to use the microphone to speak French or Spanish since i restarted Duolingo last week. I am able to use it to avoid typing the English translation though
Perhaps you were supposed to repeat it in French rather than translate.
Duolingo allows a typo if it does not make another word, but there are three errors there "français" is not capitalized, the letter after the n is ç and the word must end in s.
i love this it helps me with other classmates in my school. and helps me if i go to paris. and also bounjure.in french
la conjugation de PARLER
Je parle Tu parles Il parle / elle parle Nous parlons Vous parlez Ils parlent / elles parlent
Why dd you capitalie some pronouns but not others. None of them need to be capitalized unless it is the first letter of the sentence.
Sometimes when we are writing in these small spaces we need to tell things apart from other things. Capitals in short notes help the eye see when things change. If we were writing full sentences in a more formal setting then we would only capitalize for beginning a sentence, and names.
However in English, I must always be capitalized. One might get the idea that these must always be capital also. Then, there is the problem of capital i looking like lowercase l. If you had spaced between lines, I might not have noticed as much.
je parle = I speak
tu parles = you speak (thou speakest)
il/elle parle = he/she speaks
nous parlons = we speak
vous parlez = you speak (plural or formal singular)
ils/elles parlent = they speak
What system are you using? The French letters can be typed using any keyboard with the right software which is usually obtained as a "keyboard" through Settings or Control Panel.
No, the language is a noun that is always "français", but if you wanted to say that the woman is French then the adjective must match the noun it is describing "une femme française."
Try looking up on Google "French verb parler conjugated" and see all the ways that parler can be conjugated.
"Parle" is used with "je", "il" and "elle", "parles" is only used with "tu". Think of it as being similar as in English: when using he or she, you add an -s to the verb. In French, you have different endings for almost all different subjects. For the verbs that are conjugated the same way as "parler" (almost all verbs ending on -er, some exceptions exist), these are:
Infinitive: Parl-er
Je parl-e
Tu parl-es
Il/elle parl-e
Nous parl-ons
Vous parl-ez
Ils/elle parl-ent
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My phone doesn't have the accent marks so it is impossible to get anything correct that has accent marks.
If you want to send messages to Duo, you need to use either the REPORT button or the HELP link under your profile. Here in the discussion you are talking with your fellow students.
I always get a mistake with this but now it is the FIRST TIME i get correct !!!
Wonderful, from now on you can no longer use the word "always", since it won't be true anymore! You sound excited about your accomplishment and learning, is that right?
There is no "want" in this sentence, so you can't include "want" when you translate. There is only I (Je) + speak (parle) + French (francais). IF you add words that are not there, the computer will mark you wrong. If you mean that the computer would not let you speak the answer, look for a button to click so you can write the answer instead.
Do we not pronounce the 'r' in francais? Or is it spoken too fast so I missed it?
I find it very hard to both pronounce AND to hear the French 'r'. It is made quite differently in the mouth than the English 'r', a different sound. I only hear it now after much practice and listening very carefully. I still can't pronounce it.
Thanks, that is a great explanation. I'm practicing! Now I know WHAT to practice.
Unfortunately Duolingo only allows a typo if it does not make another word.
Do you know what is confusing you? Your fellow students can not help you unless you can be more specific. And, yes, languages can be confusing but it gets easier, the more you know.
Wait did any of you get it wrong please ???? Cuz i did and i didn't press can't speak now so that is what happened to me
He sounded like he was saying Is Paul french. The man is better, but both are terrible with enunciation.
Listen again at the top. Paul in French is pronounced as pole is in English. The pronunciation is correct at the top of the page, though the tts voices are not always clear.. Perhaps you are expecting English enunciation? Sometimes we extrapolate the wrong words when we are new to a language and we don't know what sounds to expect. Even better, listen to live native speakers here: https://forvo.com/word/je_parle_fran%C3%A7ais/
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This has been explained already. Please read through the forum before asking a question.
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No, because that would imply you're speaking French in that very moment. Not in general.
Not in English, we use the present continuous more than that and there is no context, but, yes, "I speak English." (in general) is much more commonly said. I am = I'm (The apostrophe is not optional.)
"I talk french" isn't really proper English. I'm having a tough time trying to figure out a situation where that would be the acceptable.
We would have to say “I talk in French.” In English only “speak” does not need the preposition with a language.
I had an audio recording of a woman who said "Je parle francaise", which I typed into the box. However, apparently it was wrong because I added the E to the end, even though it was a female speaking. Did I get this wrong, or is this a mistake by Duolingo?
All the tts voices read all the sentences as though reading a book. The sentence is about the writer and not the reader, so no, the female voice could say “Je suis français.” because it was reading a sentence written by a male. Here, the word “français” refers to the language and not the person in the sentence “Je parle français.” Scroll to the top of the page to listen again. She says it correctly without the e ending.
oh ok, so that means that any audio recording should be treated like a male was saying it, Thanks.
No, there are also female writers, but the language is always masculine. It would also be possible to hear the male voice say “Je suis française.”, but “Je parle français.” remains the same no matter who says it.
If you have an iPhone, you can press and hold "C" and it'll open a little pop-up from which you can choose the ç.
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You won't get marked incorrect for using a normal letter c.
You can also install a French keyboard on your phone. On some keypads you don't even need to use the actual French keyboard, but you'll still be able to access all the French letters.
The word "francais" does NOT describe girl so it does not need to match the gender of girl. I don't believe it has anything to do with who wrote it. francais it the. name of a language so it is its own noun with its own gender. That is, it is NOT used to make the girl a French girl but is totally separate from the word girl as it is the name of a language.
