124 Comments
From my understanding, j'aime only means love when used with a person. When used with an inanimate object it only means like. Instead, you would say j'adore.
So j'aime le thé = i like tea. And j'adore le thé= i love thé
- 24
- 24
- 14
- 13
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 14
When the question is "Je t'aime", Duolingo marks it wrong if you write "like". Je t'aime means "I love you" but for jam, it means "like". The same goes for pets. A question was about their cat or dog and "aime" meant "love" not "like"
I believe for inanimate objects; food, objects etc aimer means like and for people, it means to love
- 11
- 8
- 7
You should be able to. I also got it wrong, and when I held my mouse under the word "J'aime" I received "I like" and "I love" as translation.
Here is what several sites had to say about it:
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/aimer.htm http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/aimer-to-like-to-enjoy-to-love-and-to-be-in-love http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french/aimer/1925?q=aimer (see bullet #4) http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french-english/aimer/1925 (see point #2)
This should be a cut and dry explanation) . I mean if Larousse got it wrong, then we are all in trouble :-/
- 11
- 8
- 7
- 2
I just spoke to my French teacher today about it. She says you can't really have a way to differentiate between if you like or love an object, but you can if you are targeting a person using either "j'aime tu" and "je t'aime".
- 23
- 6
- 7
faith120, j'aime tu, is incorrect French, you have to say : je t'aime, and you can say : je t'aime, toi. but never tu, because tu is always subject, not complement.
I got the same problem. I've always heard that it was right; duolingo's probably just wrong.
You can't say "I love jam" because aime is love whjen it is with a person or pet but, jam is a thing so, amie means like in that senntence.
I had another example where "j'aime" was used as I love so why aren't there two corrct answers?
- 13
- 9
Not technically, the reason 'la' is there is because it comes after j'aime. anytime you use an appreciative verb (like aimer) followed by an object, it must be followed by a definite article like 'la' or 'le'. It does not necessarily imply that you mean 'the', it's just required by the french language.
However, it could also mean 'I like the jam' as that is an alternative meaning to this sentence.
- 18
- 12
- 3
It could be, but only if you wished to distinguish between the jam and the bread (for instance). E.g. This sandwich is a bit hit-and-miss: I like the jam, but I don't like the bread.
I can say I like all of the choices. I like sugar. Why the hell cant I say that
- 24
- 22
- 6
- 3
- 573
The other 3 are masculine. Jam is the only option that matches the feminine article.
- 22
- 20
- 10
- 7
- 7
- 4
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 75
"j'aime" is only "I love" for people and pets. For food, it is simply "I like".
- 25
- 11
- 8
- 6
- 2
- 890
I believe one of the translations should be " I love preserves ." Preserves ending in " s "
At this stage, and simply put, use "de la" except when it follows the verb "aime."
- 12
- 7
- 5
- 4
Depends on what english language you're using. For us British English speakers, jelly and jam are not the same thing.
- 11
- 10
You could try reporting it. They may add "jelly" to the list of acceptable alternatives.
- 23
- 6
- 7
punkmom- No because this isn't the correct translation. jelly is gelée in French, and the 2 words are totally different. Maybe in other linguages, you're right, but here you learn French, so don't try to make your answers fit YOUR linguage, French is different.
- 6
- 3
I'm doing this on my phone and there is no context, it simply says 'j'taime la .....' without anyone reading it or any hint to what the answer is.
- 10
- 5
- 4
I don't understand why you have to say jam when you could say like sugar or something? I have no clue why I got this wrong, but I was wondering if any of you guys could tell me why it has to be jam.
- 16
- 5
- 3
J'aime means I like with inanimate objects (food, furniture, etc.) It means I love with animate objects (people, animals, pets, etc.)
Like and love are next to each other easy to get mix up realy! Anyone think?
- 11
- 4
- 3
- 2
Why is this allowed to be "I like jam," when the word "la" is included? I put "I like the jam," which was correct, but I was just wondering, why is "I like jam" an alternate solution? Help is very much appreciated.
- 16
- 14
- 12
- 11
this is a wild guess, correct me if im wrong. to emphasize on THE jam, the one that stand on the table in front of you, you could say j´aime cette confiture. to express a general preference i guess you cant let out the article in french like in english so it has to go with a "la".
edit: i´ve just noticed that this is explained in more detail in the hints of the section "food"
- 24
Can I say "confiture" when referring to music? Like "dis is my jam".. I guess "Ce est mon confiture!"
I don't think that would be the right word for this particular instance... But I don't know what would be the correct word either so shrug. I can say it would be "c'est ma confiture" though. :)
- 15
- 13
- 9
- 8
Is there no difference between marmalade and jam in France, then? Cause it says both underneath.Or maybe it's like here in Germany where the actual british marmalade doesn't exist.
- 21
- 21
- 17
- 12
- 12
- 9
- 148
marmelade: "Préparation de fruits frais que l'on fait cuire avec du sucre ou un sirop jusqu'à ce qu'ils prennent l'aspect d'une bouillie épaisse pouvant ensuite être conservée plusieurs mois." So it's any jam or preserves. "marmelade" is also used figuratively to mean "crushed to a pulp, smashed up" and even "a confused situation".
- 15
- 13
- 9
- 8
so it's jam and marmalade in one more or less, right? (marmaled being the stuff made from oranges and lemons)
- 21
- 21
- 17
- 12
- 12
- 9
- 148
No, according to the http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/marmelade, "marmelade" can be made from apples, green tomatoes, or apricots. On the other hand, there are more google hits for "confiture" of these fruits, so I guess for most francophones "marmelade" refers to things made from citrus fruits.
- 23
- 6
- 7
lechuza- The difference that I see is that for marmelade, it's like mashed, but in jam, the pieces are visible. Here in Quebec, marmelade is with orange, lemon, citrus fruit. For tomatoes, red or green, we call it green or red ketchup, in the category of "marinades".
- 15
- 13
- 9
- 8
well yeah depending on the county "marmelade" has a different definition, that's why I added the "made from..." part^^
- 6
- 3
its hard to learn french when the app only is in English but you come from sweden. But i am lucky because every single Swedish Child learn English in school
- 7
- 6
- 4
Can't wait until the swedish app is finished and I can learn swedish! I visited once but everyone spoke English so I only picked up a few phrases.
- 11
- 3
- 2
Than whay is the difference between saying "la confiture" and "du confiture"?
- 23
- 6
- 7
joel- la confiture is the jam. du, is a mistake. we say de la confiture. What do you eat? De la confiture. What is better, apples or jam? La confiture.
why 'i love jam'was not accepted？are there different expressions in French for'like' and 'love'？
- 23
- 6
- 7
ellen- love is more passionnate, it's for humans or pets. Like is more for objects. I love my husband. I like my house.
- 25
- 25
- 22
- 18
- 16
- 16
- 13
- 13
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 3
You could say "'J'adore la confiture." if you want something stronger than "like".
- 23
- 6
- 7
alexey- It's a rule, you have to use the apostrophe when 2 voyels are following one another. Je aime = j'aime. je ignore = j'ignore. il faut que il = il faut qu'il.
This is just a question in general for French. How can you tell if a word is masculine or feminine? In Spanish, feminine words tend to end in '-a' and masculine words tend to end in '-o', but in French, I cannot find any correlation between masculine and feminine words. Please explain how they differentiate masculine words from feminine words in French. Merci.
- 25
- 25
- 22
- 18
- 16
- 16
- 13
- 13
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 3
That is not far off from what it is supposed to sound like. http://www.forvo.com/search-fr/J'aime/
It won't accept this apostrophe in the link, so just type in "J'aime" then press chercher or search.
It gives you a selection to choose from in this sentance. Everything but one of the options work. How come when one of the options was ( j'aime) "poulet", I got it wrong?
I LOVE the new update on duoilngo it is so awesome any 1 else love it?
- 10
Okay how do I know which foods are masculine and which ones are feminine
Only advice I can give is either practice until you just kind of start figuring it out (I am at the point I can guess most new french words gender, I'm sure their are loose rules to this but no one rule would apply to all words) or as you are memorizing new words remember the le or la as well.
ie. Instead of just beurre for butter memorize le beurre
- 14
- 11
- 3
can it be termed as " I like sel" or I like cake"....... someone please help...
- 16
- 16
- 16
- 16
- 16
- 256
What is grammatically different with the translation of this sentence and the translation of the earlier sentence :"Tu manges le poulet", which was translated into "You eat THE chicken", while "You eat chicken" was rejected. Why is the above sentence not translated into "I like the jam" (Refer also to my comment under "Tu manges le poulet").
- 17
- 12
- 11
- 10
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 3
So how should I distinguish between "J'aime la confiture." and "J'aime la sucre." aren't "confiture" and "sucre" both feminine?
- 23
Why "I like to eat jam" is "J'aime manger de la confiture" but "I like jam" is "J'aime manger la confiture"? In the former, the literal translation is "I like to eat some jam" but in the latter, it is "I like the jam". It seems like there is inconsistency.
How do you translate the following:
1a. "I like to eat jam." (A general statement about my preference)
2a. "I like to eat some jam." or "I would like to eat some jam." (I say it to a waiter in a restaurant when ordering.)
3a. "I like to eat some jam." (A few types of jam or a certain types of jam)
4a. "I like to eat the jam." (A specific jam, say, the jam on the table)
1b. "I like jam." (A general statement about my preference)
2b. "I like some jam." or "I would like some jam."(I say it to a waiter in a restaurant when ordering.)
3b. "I like some jam." (A few types of jam or a certain types of jam)
4b. "I like the jam." (A specific jam, say, the jam on the table)
So how to translate these differing expressions of jam-passion(!) from English to French: Rachel likes the jam Anne loves the jam Iris adores the jam ???
- 15
- 8
- 3
- 3
- 103
I was ready to see what kind of complicated word confiture was... Just jam XD
