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- "Tu es le seul à pouvoir fair…
82 Comments
I love your examples, too. Supprimer ma faim? Mr. Chocolat, tu es le seul à pouvoir faire ça ! In general, Duolingo doesn't seem to like it when you creatively add words like "person," even if it makes sense in English. Perhaps its bad form when translating, which is what they're really getting paid for having us do.
2204
I think it is because of the use of the passive infinitive What is that you might ask !
When you have constructs of the form:
adjective + preposition + infinitive
noun + preposition + infinitive
then generally (except for certain impersonnel statements and functional constructs such as une salle à manger) infinitives following a noun or adjective are preceded by the preposition de.
However, If the infinitive conveys a passive meaning then you use:
adjective / noun + à + infinitive
examples
J'ai beaucoup de travail à faire - I have a lot of work to do
Il a quelque chose à manger. - He has something to eat
Le gateau est fascile à couper - the cake is easy to cut
A-t-il des choses à cacher ? - Does he have things to hide ?
contrast these sentences with the following:
je doit faire beaucoup de travail - I must do a lot of work (here the infinitive of the verb faire is being used in an active sense)
il veut manger quelque chose - He wants to eat something (here the infinitive of the verb manger is being used in an active sense)
314
I have been asking this question for months, and not even native French speakers could give me an answer. You are an actual saint
Yeah...after reading other folks' responses, I still don't quite understand why that answer is red-lined. True, it's not eloquent but it makes sense.
1097
If this is true, there's an error in another sentence. «J'aime pouvoir faire ça» is translated as "I like being able to do that." Note that there is no à there. So is it needed, or not? Does it actually go with le seul rather than pouvoir?
2204
There is no error. The situations are different.
One situation has: noun + infinitive
while the other situation has conjugated verb + infinitive
I think the explanation is as follows: In the sentence using à pouvoir the verb pouvoir is being used as a passive infinitive whereas in the the sentence J'aime pouvoir faire ça, pouvoir is being used in a active sense. For a more detailed explanation, see my reply to anniethingelse
457
"You're the only one to be able to do that" and "You're the only one able to do that" both sound equally fine to me, and I might say either one. I don't know if other Anglophones would agree, but there is the slightest difference in connotation to my ear.
"You're the only one able to do that" implies, to me, that among all the people/cheetahs/chocolate bars under consideration - that is, all the ones we know, or all the ones in this room, or all the ones in the universe, etc. - you are the only one who has the necessary skill/strength/knowledge to complete some task.
"You're the only one to be able to do that" suggests that whatever task we're thinking of, others have tried and failed and you alone have succeeded.
It's pretty subtle.
1178
Agreed, they are both correct. I used the first translation but believe most of us would use the shorter version.
I agree with you. It's a question of precisely translating the grammatical structure, which is still valid in English but sounds odd, or more generally capturing the meaning, and translating to an equivalently natural sounding English expression.
I like that Duo is often able to capture the latter but it makes sense why the former is often easier to get at first. I like to be able to use both because I think with both: it helps me to use more direct, literal translations to understand how the French is working better, and the more natural translations help to practice doing quality translation (and before my French was at a level where I'd be lucky to be understood and recall basics; I like that Duo can really help polish it much further).
1076
We had a previous example "Tu es la seule à pouvoir faire ça." and it translates to "You are the only one to be able to do that.", when I saw this I immediately keyed out that answer. It said I used the wrong word and gave "You are the only one who is able to do that." as the correct answer! As I read it over and over I believe that "You are the only one to be able to do that." is still a better response than "You are the only one who is able to do that."! If I would back translate then "You are the only one who is able to do that." would come out to "Tu es le seul qui peux faire ça."
I thought "la seule" and "le seul" would not have any appreciable change to the meaning of the sentence (in English) and that "à pourvoir" always translates to "to be able" and don't understand why that translation is wrong here. I think it is a better translation than the one given above as "You are the only one able to do that."!
457
Straying a bit from the direct. You could likely do this in the context of actual translation of a story or article; it might well be the translation that most reliably captures the idea. But here we have no context and it's generally wiser to stay closer to the basics. Which is to say, you aren't necessarily wrong, but you'll be fighting an uphill battle here on DL if you want to keep stretching the envelope.
190
Still don't understand what is wrong with you are the only one to be able to do that." Duo marked it wrong and then said I should substitute "who is" (able to do that). This is really subtle beyond reason if there's any difference at all Being a native English speaker I see no difference. Reported it.
I agree Linda. I have yet to see a satisfying explanation on why this perfectly valid English sentence is rejected. If there's a subtle distinction in English, I read it as 'you are the only one to be able to do that' suggests of all those who have tried, you were the only one able; and 'you are the only one able to do that' suggests, maybe, no one else need try since you're the only one able to do it.
English notwithstanding, it doesn't seem like it should make a difference in the French translation. 'To be able', I would have thought, would be the better option based on the double infinitive 'pouvoir faire.'
344
Rejected: you are the only one able to make that. I thought faire is to do or to make?
1076
I don't know, it is accepted here; https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/202881/Tu-es-la-seule-%C3%A0-pouvoir-faire-%C3%A7a. And conversely the answer here is not accepted there!
I wrote: 'You are the only one to be able to make that'. Duolingo marked it wrong and corrected to, and I have copied and pasted this answer: "You are the only one who is able to make that". Who??? where does that fit in. Looking at the comments below; nowhere!! Sometimes you have to wonder... but still it is a free language base.
1076
Yes, that is correct, Duolingo considers "Tu es la seule à pouvoir faire ça." to translate to "You are the only one who is able to make that.". If you want to say "You are the only one able to do that. (or any slight variant of this)", you will need to say "Tu es le seul à pouvoir faire ça.", which is found here;
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/231362/Tu-es-le-seul-%C3%A0-pouvoir-faire-%C3%A7a.