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- Topic: French >
- "We have an apple."
"We have an apple."
Translation:Nous avons une pomme.
25 Comments
So, please learn:
verb AVOIR: j'ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez (polite plural), ils/elles ont.
verb ETRE: je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont
verb MANGER: je mange, tu manges, il/elle/on mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils/elles mangent
verb ECRIRE: j'écris, tu écris, il/elle/on écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils/elles écrivent
verb LIRE: je lis, tu lis, il/elle/on lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils/elles lisent.
verb POUVOIR: je peux, tu peux, il/elle/on peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles peuvent
When you have digested the above, come back, I'll give you more.
As Sitesurf says, time to learn them!
AVOIR and ÊTRE (To Have, To Be) are critical, just as they are in English, so sear them into your brain. Write flash cards, paste on your doors and bathroom mirror, and so on. Besides being critical, they have funky conjugations – nearly all verbs in French follow a few common patterns, but not these two. So just memorize them. All the other verbs will be easy in comparison.
Tip: In earlier slides on DuoLingo, you could have clicked on a verb to see a dialog offering a "Conjugate" button that presents a table listing the conjugations. Consider making a habit of typing or writing out the conjugation table each time you view one to help your mind absorb it.
avoir = http://french.about.com/od/verb_conjugations/a/avoir.htm
être = http://french.about.com/od/verb_conjugations/a/etre.htm
can somebody please explain in simple words why "nous avez une pomme" is not proper (does not avez not mean have as well)?
nous = we
we have = nous avons
vous = you
you have = vous avez (+ tu as).
1) if the English sentence contains "we", please translate to "nous"
2) this is the conjugation of the verb "avoir": j'ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez (formal singular and plural), ils/elles ont.
Another translation for "nous avons une pomme" is "on a une pomme" but your conjugaison is wrong. "on" has the same meaning than "we" (with some nuances in some contexts) but doesn't have the same conjugaison, it has the same than "il/elle". That's a trick.
You use "un" when the noun is masculine and "une" when it is feminine.
You can't guess which nouns are masculine or feminine, so please learn all nouns with their own gender, like: apple = [une pomme], as if the article were a prefix. Then you will remember that "une pomme" is a feminine noun.
"Avons" is the conjugation for "nous": nous avons = we have
"Avec" is a preposition = with
"Aves" is not a French word
"Avez" is the conjugation for the formal, singular or the plural "vous": vous avez = you have.
Now please learn the full conjugation for the verb "avoir" in present:
- j'ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont.
Could a person please tell me how should we know what nouns are femeine?
