"Les oiseaux se sont envolés."

Translation: The birds flew away.

[epsomjenny]

"have flown away' should be accepted.

[rosiecas81042]

I agree

[PaulSkeoch1]

The male speaker pronounces the s in "les", the female one doesn't. Are both correct in front of oiseaux? Regional differences?

[myrtledavi]

yes, have flown away is the "passe compose " and we can either say have flown away or flew away. THis would not be the case for the imparfait where se volaient could only be translated by flew away in English. We would not translate the imparfait as :have flown away" Therefore, have flown away should be correct.

[judith57957]

why is "took flight" not an acceptable translation for "flew away"?

[johndelaroo]

Parce que cela se traduirait par: "Les oiseaux ont pris leur envol." See: https://www.lepopulaire.fr/limoges/vie-pratique-consommation/2017/10/02/les-oiseaux-malins-ont-pris-leur-envol-leur-atelier-collaboratif-a-ouvert-ses-portes-a-limoges_12572506.html

[Geoffrey878583]

"The birds have flown away" was not accepted. Should be.

[AronTrinidad]

I took the risk and ommited the "away", marked me wrong? What is "to fly" if « envoler » is "to fly away"?

[Ripcurlgirl]

voler → "to fly" and s'envoler → "to fly away".

"Les cigognes se sont envolées depuis leur nid."
"The storks flew away from their nest".

"Les oiseaux volent dans le ciel."
"Birds fly in the sky."

[Therealraphi]

Why is the "se" necessary? The birds flew away, they didnt fly themselves away .

[johndelaroo]

Le se est nécessaire car c'est ainsi que les Français le disent.

[IsabelleIz4]

I wrote ‘the birds have flown away’ and it was marked wrong. Does anyone know why?

[johndelaroo]

Non, personne ne le sait sauf Duo.