- Forum >
- Topic: French >
- "Il a du poisson."
76 Comments
"A fish" would be "un poisson." Du is like "some" or an unknown quantity. Here is a helpful link: http://www.languageguide.org/french/grammar/articles/
They sound actually different. "IL" sounds like ill in english, and "ELLE" sounds like the first part of elephant in english (until the first 'L'). What is actually hard to differentiate is the singular and plural forms of each, e.g. IL ans ILS sounds the same, in the same way ELLE and ELLES sounds the same. The only way to tell a difference is by hearing the full sentence where is used. Greetings.
926
it's not similar, it's identical (except in front of vowels, then ils becomes [ilz]). So you need context to know which one is meant. When it's ambiguous, Duolingo accepts or should accept all possible options
2198
"il" and "ils" sound exactly the same, but the verb "avoir / to have" conjugates differently with each subject; and that tells you whether the sentence is in singular or plural form.
he has fish -> il a du poisson.
they have fish -> ils ont du poisson. (in this sentence, I believe, you have to pronounce the 's' in "ils" as the next word starts with a vowel)
jools- learn the conjugaisons, you'll know if it's plural or singular. reverso.net is very good for the verbs
2198
To be honest, it's very hard to translate this French sentence; as it is in singular form, whereas, the English translation you provided would be understood in plural.
The latter is a better translation, although I will still understand it in plural; as in, he has more than one fish, but I don't know how many, so I'll say some.
The French sentence means, "he has some part of a single fish".
Hope that makes sense.
39
Hmm, I put, "He is having some fish" and was marked wrong. Isn't this technically right though?
2198
In your sentence, "is having" means that he "is eating" or "will eat" fish, say for lunch.
It's equivalent to the French verb 'prendre', meaning 'to take', in that sense.
In order to mean actual possession, you have to use the verb 'have' in its simple tense.
2198
It is slightly different in French than in English.
The French use the verb 'prendre / take' when they order food, whereas, the English use 'have'.
So no, this sentence doesn't mean that "he's having fish", it just mean that "he has some fish".
601
Because "a" is the 3rd-person singular form for "avoir" (to have). Plus, "du" (meaning "de" + "le") used in this context means "some" or "an unknown quantity of", not just "a fish". "It is a fish" would be "C'est un poisson".
601
First of all, the verb is "avoir", not "manger", so "eat" is completely incorrect. Plus, "du" (meaning "de" + "le") used in this context means "some" or "an unknown quantity of", not "the fish". "He eats the fish" would be "Il mange le poisson", or assuming you mistyped and meant "He has the fish", that would be "Il a le poisson."