"She is a real woman."
Translation:C'est une vraie femme.
28 Comments
This website says otherwise...
http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa032500.htm
"Despite their similar meanings, the expressions c'est and il est are not interchangeable - there are rules for using each one."
For the lazy: because of the modified noun ("vraie femme"), it should be "C'est" rather than "Elle est"
Why in this case "elle est" isn't good? In what you just linked to, when describing a person it is more right to use "il est" as in their example: "Il est fort, cet homme." That contradcits your argument of "Elle est" not being usable in this case. Infact, "Elle est" is more correct than what Duolingo is teaching us.
I'm just regurgitating what is found in that link, so nothing is contradicting anything :)
But it seems as if you're referring to the usage of an impersonal expression with an 'adjective describing a person' while in this Duolingo sentence we have the impersonal expression coupled with a modified noun, "vraie femme".
Taken from the link...
- C'est une bonne actrice. = She's a good actress.
Resist the temptation to write « Il est un... » or « Elle est une... » The article should immediately encourage you to use « C'est ».
Apparently vrai is one of those adjectives that changes meaning depending on whether it comes before or after its noun.
See: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_fickle.htm
So for it to mean 'real', it comes before, but for 'true', it comes after.
So if I say "une femme vraie" does that mean "not a man" (e.g. at a drag show--that one is a real woman, not just a man in a dress.) Or is it just wrong in all contexts?
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So would a fictional character who never lies be "une femme vraie" (but not "une vraie femme"), or is the literal usage just for things like facts?
I was wondering the same thing. Maybe truth/reality fits under Beauty Age Number Goodness Size somehow.
Any help on why "C'est une femme réelle" isn't correct? Does réel/le have a different meaning or nuance?
Didn't it just give me "Elle est une vraie femme." a few questions before? Am I going mad?
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Oh, thump! Nearly a trick question this. 'Vrai comes before femme..... all sorted'. Not. Relieved at remembering the correct placement, I simply failed to double check. Vrai and vraie were there. That will teach me to think again. Thank you, Duo. Meanwhile, Paxo comes to mind (a brand of stuffing) for the nicely roasted bird! :-)
