"The women are drinking a beer."
Translation:Les femmes boivent une bière.
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799
I am wondering as well. As soon as it can be uncountable subject like a meat, why "de la viande" is correct and "de la bière" is not?
Okay, here is the pronunciation explained:
- Les = /le/ (pronounced a bit like lay but without the 'ee' sound at the end)
- femmes = /fam/
- boivent = /bwav/
- une = /yn/ (the U is a bit difficult to pronounce)
- bière = /biɛʁ/ (the R is different from an English R, but you can pronounce it with an English R. It's okay)
In French, elles boivent can mean any of the following: 1. They (f.) drink 2. They (f.) do drink 3. They (f.) are drinking Unlike English & Spanish, no helping verb is required in French. Use context to decide which is most appropriate. Elles boivent de la bière avec leurs repas. They drink beer with their meals. Oui, elles boivent de la bière. Yes, they [do] drink beer. En ce moment, elles boivent une bière. Right now, they are drinking a beer.
You could say, "Les femmes sont en train de boire une bière." More for they are in the middle of/in the act of/currently drinking a beer. Just as in English, only the first verb in a string is conjugated. Since you conjugated être (elles sont), you then leave boire in the infinitive. I like to drink tea. NOT, I to like to drink tea NOR I like drink tea.
the contraction l' is only used for singular nouns which also begin with audible vowels. e.g. l'eau, l'œuf, etc. (l'homme is an exception since the h is muted.)
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/9686868/How-do-you-distinguish-between-les-la-and-le-in-French
137
"La" is a definite article ("the" in English); "une" or "un" are indefinite articles ("a/an" in English). That is why it was marked as incorrect.