"Il a du poisson."

Translation: He has fish.

[RexIronjaw]

Am I the only one who struggles with "Il a" and "Il y a" (like he has/there is)?

[vojo_rs]

Nope, you are not alone :(

[LucasSantana17]

actually, it was hard to me to understand "there be" in English (I'm Brazilian)... in French it seems to be the same logic, so i'm okay :)

[shamus666]

Nope I do too

[Eliza506874]

Im sorry is there possible way to get this right?

[AkshayenSa]

no not just you even I do so don't worry

[leafjensen]

I can hardly recognize the different on pronunciation between poisson and boisson..

[LucasSantana17]

welcome to latin languages

[AchyuthanS]

Let's just be happy there isn't a word 'voisson' (or is there?). Otherwise, with the computer-lady it'll sound the same too!

[GuenievreChat]

Well if it was boisson then the sentence would be "He has some drink" and "He has some fish" seems to make more sense. Context clues can make it easier but if there isn't any context or the sentence could work either way then we are all in trouble.

[ww3pl]

So, why isn't it "He's got a fish"? Does 'Il a du poisson' means that /he/ possesses fish, but not in a specified amount?

[eliminnowp]

"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/

[DuoLogue]

So it's basically a random number of fish?

[mattsean]

a means has

[NikiD7]

So shouldnt it be he has some fish

[Yunqi4]

Il a un poisson (he's got a fish)

Il a des poissons (he's got some fish (in his aquarium))

Il a du poisson (he's got some fish (to eat))

[Robot10]

why is "he has a fish" wrong?

[amandaharrison]

It is not un poisson, but du poisson and that means some fish

[mitaine56]

robot- du = some, not A

[Dee.]

how do i know the difference between IL and ELLE while hearing it ?? they sound the same ... also they sound the same as ILS and ELLES ... it's frustrating :(

[aba_ml]

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.

[nathanlindley]

I have to wait to hear how the verb is conjugated. Thats the only way I can know.

[YahyaZuhair]

Il sounds like ill in English
Elle sounds just like the letter L

[lios_por]

does this mean that "he has fish (as lunch-dinner etc)?

[howcheng]

No, it means he possesses fish.

[AkshayenSa]

no

[fast_jaguar]

why doesn't "he catches fish" work?

[mitaine56]

fast_jaguar, It doesn't mean because he has fish that he catches it himself

[Rewm]

it must be a bit more specific context to claim avoir means "catch"

[indepket]

Emphasise the 'd', almost couldn't figure what she'd said...geez

[violazhou]

du+singular or plural?

[Ihavenopanda]

"Du" is masculine singular, "de la" is feminine singular," and "des" is plural for either gender.

[Ragheedo]

the pronunciation of "ils" and "ll" is similar ! I'm confused here >_<

[Rewm]

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

[shawnami]

How come they pronounced the 'on' in poisson in this sentence, but with 'le poisson' in an earlier exercise the 'on' was silent?

[Rewm]

I doubt it, it must have been some other word.

[mitaine56]

shawnami, impossible

[jools182]

I wrote Ils and I think this should be accepted. There is no way to hear the difference between ils and il

[YahyaZuhair]

"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)

[mitaine56]

jools- learn the conjugaisons, you'll know if it's plural or singular. reverso.net is very good for the verbs

[nishantgarg]

i thought it was à isted of a?
what is the diff between the sounds

[KedarDeshp]

why does the verb avoir has a partitive article here? is it just an example or is there any rule(hope not !! )?

[mubykamal]

it should be he has some fish

[tlo0616]

So every word has an article before it always bc i left out du & got the heart taken from me . It did translate he hs fish, not he has a fish, some fish, or the fish. Im very confused!! & that french speaker isnt very good

[ShirleyTan3]

Why it cant be il a le poisson?

[milatraveria]

by the wayyyy

[mohebat-e-]

I'm always mistaking "du" for "un". Help! !!!!

[SteffenFro]

Which would be better- "He has fish" or "He has some fish" ?

[YahyaZuhair]

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.

[Trumantrmn]

Ahhhh!!! I thought she said Elle, i make that mistake a lot

[DuoLogue]

How do I pronounce poisson? I understand the meaning but I can't pronounce it right.

[megaproX11]

Just like boisson but with a P

[RadioactiveMoth]

the "du" sounds like "deux". i wish they had better speech software.

[Agasik]

Hmm, I put, "He is having some fish" and was marked wrong. Isn't this technically right though?

[YahyaZuhair]

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.

[Agasik]

Aha, I understand now - thank you!

[karim_sharaf44]

Il a du boisson

[raymondbuckler]

I had a typo

[itz_Euphoria]

what is corner in french

[4shutosh]

Why is "Il a poisson"? Alternatively, why is 'du' important in the sentence?

[KateSimpson0]

Du means some. He has some fish, not a fish, not the fish, some fish.

[PlatypusPerson]

Can this also mean, "He is having fish," like at a restaurant when you're ordering for someone else?

[YahyaZuhair]

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".

[Andrew391673]

I put "it is a fish" and i got it wrong... why?

[howcheng]

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".

[VirginiaBRO]

He has some fish, no?

[Elina476633]

What is wrong about having 'he eats THE fish'? 'The' could be used to describe more than one fish. It makes zero sense.

[howcheng]

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."

[Mar_sal45]

I feel like i shouldnt be wrong if i put "He has a fish" when the real answer is "He has fish"

[luibondodr]

can you not say he has a fish

[Tyler185911]

I put "he has a fish" technically I'm not incorrect, but wth

[Fr4nc0is]

what is the difference of
he has fish and
he has a fish

[cooltank09]

he has fish does not make sense

[PeterKrug]

Same here