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- Topic: French >
- "I read you a book."
"I read you a book."
Translation:Je te lis un livre.
42 Comments
I gather 'je t'ai lu un livre' is OK given that the past tense in English is the same?
Why does 'vous' work then, but not 'tu?' Why are 'tu' and 'vous' no longer interchangeable (as long as we change other words with them, of course)?
2026
Please see the following link: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/pronouns.htm
It brings out clearly when to use te / toi , le/lui/se, les/leur/se/eux etc.
Because "toi" is a stressed pronoun, not an indirect object pronoun (te).
You can use "toi" in a number of cases, including:
- multiple subjects : Toi et moi sommes amis.
- apposition: Toi, tu es mon ami
- questions: Je vais bien, et toi ?
- answers to questions: Qui a mangé le gâteau ? c'est toi !
- after a prepositions: Il vient avec toi.
The last time I had this question, I answered 'je vous lis un livre' and I was marked wrong. Duo lingo pointed out that instead the correct form was 'lit'. so I mentally adapted. This time I answered exactly the same but with 'lit', and it marked me incorrect, this time saying it was 'lis'. frustrated
Probably an error somewhere. This is the full conjugation of verb "lire" in simple present:
je lis, tu lis, il/elle/on lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils/elles lisent.
I know you have mentioned elsewhere before but where is a good site to learn conjugation? I'm good but don't comprehend.
- 1680
I use this one: http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french.html
But if you mean for actually learning the grammar then I found some youtube teachers excellent. Maybe try Alexa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuLSsfQ5GOQ=593s , Parapluie French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SsVeaQZbYM or Pascal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84p7GiB9-WU
There are others and they all have their pros and cons. Try a few out and see what style suits you.
The hyphen is used in Verb-Subject pronoun inversions, like: "lis-tu un livre ?"
"te" is an indirect object.
The indirect object pronoun of a verb constructed with the preposition "à" is placed before the verb:
- je lis un livre à mon enfant
- je te lis un livre.
"Je te lis un livre" is correct. Where did you see this false-correct answer?
I wrote exactly what the "correct answer" said, and was marked wrong.......DL needs to review it's letter system, they put l where they mean t.
"lu" would be the incorrect word for "read"
Also, "J'ai" would make this a past-tense sentence. "I have read (pronounced "red", and not "reed") you a book."
Object pronouns are placed before the verb they depend on. This is valid for direct objects and for indirect objects (preposition "à").
- "Je lis un livre à mon enfant" (object noun) vs "Je te lis un livre" (indirect object pronoun)
- "Je vois un livre" (object noun) vs "Je le vois" (direct object pronoun)
Someone here recently told me that there should be no literal translations, and then I encounter "I read you a book", which is not and independent sentence in English. So which one is it?
"I read you a book" is a sentence because it has a subject a verb and even two objects.
You is an indirect object, and I am puzzled why the objective case is used
The english in this sentence is clunky. English speakers would be more likely to say, 'I'm reading a book to you.' Just saying....
If you had read the sentence as if it were in the past tense, ('red' instead of 'reed') couldn't "J'ai te lit un livre" be accepted?
If "read" is a past simple tense, the French becomes "Je t'ai lu un livre", with the object pronoun before the auxiliary and "lu" as the past participle of "lire".
The subject is "je" and the conjugation for "je" is "lis".
"Vous" is an indirect object, not the subject of the verb.
