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This is right up there with "Je meurs seul." Someone at Duolingo has a dark sense of humor.
Throughout would mean that you drink many times during the night, which "durant/pendant" do not mean.
I think I know what you mean, but I am not certain. Could you elaborate please?
I also translated it as "...throughout the night".
That means that you are drinking the entire night. 'During' only requires minimum simultaneous drinking and night time.
I agree with the previous comments, however, I think that "I drink through the night" should be accepted. Any thoughts?
That's what I thought of at first, but didn't enter it and used "during" instead. Technically, "through the night" and "during the night" mean different things. The former means "till the night is over", or "all night long", whereas the latter means "at some point during the night, but not necessarily all through the night". I'm not sure though if the same distinction exists in French.
"through the night" = pendant toute la nuit, toute la nuit - several times during the night
"during the night" = pendant/durant la nuit - no indication of any repetition of the act
Not quite. I am everywhere because I have started helping learners with grammar and other language issues since I joined Duo as a learner (July 2012).
Oh! I was under the impression that moderators work for duolingo for I see a green ring around your profile picture in the web version. Anyways, you have been great help and I want to thank you for always being there with the answers and helping us through the lessons.
I agree with what you have said, but could you explain why lasting is also given as a definition of durant? It seems like that would lead durant to mean throughout as well
Ok, so this is how I understand this:
A woman working the night shift: Elle travaille toute la nuit.
A kid has a glass of water at 2am: Il boit durant la nuit.
A man who sleep walks and goes to his refrigerator multiple times per night: Il mange pendant la nuit.
Something like that?
I find it rather disappointing to see people assuming that it's referring to alcohol. I do drink during the night, because my son is demand fed, so I have a bottle of water on my nightstand. I know I'll probably be voted down for this comment, but not everything is referring to antisocial behaviour.
What is anti-social about drinking alcohol at night?
Not everything needs the reaction of moral panic.
Buvant durant la soirée est mieux que buvant durant la journée. (is that right? can I use two past participles in a sentence? or should the second one be in the infinitive?) Also, as a mother of three... Oui, de temps en temps je bois durant la nuit. Drinking any other time would be unreasonable
I would say that boire should be in the infinitive, but I would also reformulate the sentence quite a bit: Il est mieux de boire durant la soirée que de boire durant la journée.
LOL what is this? This sentence immediately followed "Je mange pendant le
journée". I eat during the day, I drink during the night?
I think they expect the translation of "durant". Note that "je bois la nuit" would be the translation of "I drink at night".
If I wanted to be poetic and say "I drink the night," would there be a different construction?
I got this right, but does anybody else hear three syllables after "durant"? In the slow version it's clear, but in the fast it sounds more like "Je bois durant l'ami nuit". Is this some odd pronunciation thing, or is duolingo misleading, or do I just need to clean my ears?
There should be 3 syllables after durant, nuit is 2 syllables. I think I hear the sound you are talking about, although I don't hear it as /l'ami nuit/ but rather like /la n-wee/.
But it should be "nwee" without a break between the "n" and the "wee" shouldn't it? It sounds to me more like "nuh-wee". Is that right?
Yes, I did not mean to indicate a break between n and wee, that was my poor structure, but rather I was trying to convey the specific sound of the n. It is somewhat like nuh-wee yes, but said rather quickly so that the vowel sound almost gets elided.
I just listened to it again, it is fine. You may go and clean your ears ;-)
Is there any difference between pendant and durant? Im confused help me please
I'm no English professor, but I think 'during' is more event-specific, or season-specific. In that sentence, 'at' or 'in the' makes a better meaning
I put I Drink At Night but DUOLINGO said it" means "I drink overnight " DUO ! I hope you take a cab home in the morning if she doesn't let you sleep it off .
Okay I just used "during the night" for the last one that had "durant la nuit" and it counted it as incorrect and said that "at night" was the correct translation. Now, i used "at night" like I was meant to. NOPE! "During the night" is correct. Something's not right.
Unfortunately this was a few days ago and I can't recall the exact sentences that I received.
I am drinking during the night would only be said by a French person speaking English
