"Tu aimes les légumes, donc tu manges des haricots."
Translation:You like vegetables, so you eat beans.
56 Comments
Exactly my issue. Maybe you are at a restaurant where they happen to prepare veg in a great way so you only eat them there! Duo - please update the answer!
I think the problem is with the phrase itself. It might be a case of "donc" vs "alors", since "alors" is such a vague transition verb and means almost anything you want it to. I'm not really sure here, but I know verbs of appreciation in French are a little odd. Sitesurf, can you comment here?
"Donc" is more precise than "alors" when it comes to introduce a logical deduction. But this is not related to the verb "aimer".
What is special with appreciation verbs is that their object is always generalized and as such, it is preceded by a definite article.
- "You like vegetables" means that you like all and any of them as a category.
It is not absolutely impossible to interpret that these "vegetables" could be specific, but the whole sentence is a logical statement, where if you like a whole category of things, then you eat any of its components.
In French, definite articles are required to introduce a generality, category or concept.
"The" is not used for generalities, only for specific things.
With verbs of appreciation (aimer, aimer bien, adorer, apprécier, préférer, détester, haïr, respecter, admirer), the direct object is necessarily a generality and always gets a definite article (le, la, les).
That's interesting. I don't understand why the direct object is necessarily a generality, but I am glad to have this information and will apply it. THanks.
If you like vegetables in general, you like them all as a food category. It is different from liking some vegetables, which refers to a limited number of them, and therefore leaves out some others.
- I like vegetables = j'aime les légumes
- I like some vegetables = j'aime certains légumes
I think this is tricky for people because in English we can say either. For example if someone is eating a bowl of soup, they can say "I like soup" (meaning soup in general) or "I like the soup" (meaning the soup they are eating). Is there a way to specify "I like THE soup" in French?
The French definite articles are used for generalities (unlike English) and specific things (as in English).
Context will tell if "la soupe" is specific or "soup in general", but there are cases where it is pretty obvious:
-
La soupe est toujours bonne pour les enfants = Soup is always good for children: both "soup" and "children" are generalizations.
-
La soupe est chaude, donc fais attention = The soup is hot, so be careful: this is clearly specific.
95
Please would you discuss the cat, with regard to les or des becoming between him and his vegetables. If Bertrand the cat likes vegetables so he is eating beans, des seems clear. But in English he eats beans could be a generalisation,- he might not have had them for years, though he likes them. That feels more like a Les. Sorry to seem terribly dim but it is this difference in how we use expressions that seems to be tripping us up.
Yes, and the rule is that you always need a definite article when using verbs of appreciation like "aimer" and "adorer", etc. for that reason
I put "you like vegetables, so you are eating beans" which is the same thing as the answer above but I got it wrong?
Duolingo, you have to decide when "des" is used to say "some" and when it's not. So many inconsistencies!!
- 173
Yes, I think I am stumbling over this same issue. At some point, we learned des is the plural form, however, we also learned, I think that des can mean some. Les is also a plural form, so would the issue be the verb attached, such as aimer, to figure out whether or not to translate les as the, or not? Mostly, I think I ignore des in a sentence, and just use the plural form of the noun. Comments?
- 173
Thank you, I actually placed my comment here after reading the entire thread, unfortunately it is still not clear to me, but I will just move on.
- 809
Shirlgirl007 - when I found that I couldn't understand or make myself understood in a forum, I went to the Duo Discussion tab and started a new discussion asking the question again. I had my answer in under 2 days. The new "eyes" on it made a big difference. Good Luck!
this language is a nightmare. but there is no way back, I am going to learn it
No, because it is incorrect and more or less meaningless.
If you like vegetables, you like them all, not only some of them.
With all verbs of appreciation (aimer, aimer bien, adorer, préférer, détester, haïr, admirer, respecter), the direct object is always a generalization, full category, whole concept, and the article is always a definite article: le, la, les.
- tu aimes le chocolat = you like chocolate
- tu aimes les légumes = you like vegetables
- tu aimes l'histoire = you like history
I said 'you like the vegetables so you are eating beans.' Why is this wrong?
The key is "donc" (so/therefore), which expresses a consequence.
The link between the two parts of the sentence must be logical, like: you like a whole category, therefore you eat one/any component of the category.
-
Tu aimes les légumes means "you like the whole 'vegetable' category / vegetables in general" = You like vegetables (no "the", these vegetables are not specific).
-
... donc tu manges des haricots (plural of "un haricot") = ... so you eat beans (more than one bean).
Thank you! I've been trying to understand for about a month when to make the choice to use "des" vs. "les" when speaking in plural/multiple. Somehow, your explanation finally clicked.
i wrote"you like the vegetables so you eat beans" and it was marked wrong why ?
In English, if you say you like the vegetables, you are understood to mean you like the particular vegetables to which you are referring, which may or may not include beans. In French, tu aimes les légumes means that you like vegetables generally and, therefore, you will like beans, since beans are vegetables. See Sitesurf’s comment above. NB I am native GB English speaker.
- 119
Les legumes = The vegetables Des legumes = Vegetables Please let me know if I am wrong
"Aimer" in French is the same verb referred to the action of "liking" and "loving" in English. It should be an option to use both verbs in these situations without triggering the error.
If "You like the vegetables, so you eat beans." is marked wrong... then how do you write "You like the vegetables, so you eat beans." in french?
The same, but still I think that here "you like vegetables, so you eat beans" is a blanket statement, where the meaning is "since you like vegetables in general (the whole category, all and any of them), then logically you eat some beans".
- 395
is not right. from english to french, "les" is obligatory. from english to french, the is optional. doesn't make sense
"Tu aimes les légumes" in this French sentence means "you like vegetables in general, as a category".
Generalizations, categories, concepts and abstract things all need a definite article in French, not in English.
Thank you. Until recently I was uncertain but I have a glimpsing memory from school of Les 'vegetables' being all the vegetables in the world. Very clearly stated.
I hear the pronunciation for "des haricots" as day airy-coe. Shouldn't it be pronounced daze airy-coe. Like vous êtes is pronounced voo zet?
"Haricot" is one of these words which start with an "aspirated H", meaning that no liaison or elision is allowed.
So with a definite article: "le haricot" (luh-arico) is the singular (not l'haricot) and "les haricots" (le-arico) is the plural.
The same applies to "un haricot" (un-arico) where the N is not heard and "des haricots" (de-arico), with no liaison.
Please try this page where several examples are available : https://forvo.com/search/un%20haricot/
why system is pronouncing like légumes instead of lejumes? alphabets 'g' is supposed to be pronounced as 'j' likewise 'j' is supposed to be pronounced as 'g'?
G is a "hard consonant", pronounced G before hard vowels: a, o, u.
It is pronounced as J before a soft vowel: e, i.
In the word "garage", in both English and French, the first one is G and the second one is J.
In the verb "mangeons", an -e- has been added to keep the J sound you have in the other conjugations (mange, manges, mangez, mangent).
Why is "Tu aimes les légumes,donc tu manges les haricots." wrong? Why doesn't it mean "You like vegetables (in general), so you eat beans (in general)."
I'd say vegetables are plural so it's "les". However you are eating some portion of beans..so "des"...Another example to co-relate "vous mangez du poulet " you are eating some portion of chicken but beans are plural and you are eating some beans from beans. Could also be possible to have some other logic behind using des. This is what I knew.."If you know something, Share something" right?..here,you go..
- 163
It's so frustrating because in French you must use the article, but when you translate it to English they don't accept when you write "the". You like "the" vegetables. And I am confused because I was understanding that "des" makes it more general. So how do I know when it is les or des if when I translated les legumes to "the vegetables" but des haricots is translated without an article?
« Les » is for generalizations, including categories of things. If you like « Les légumes », you like them all. Besides, with verbs of appreciation, the object is always generalized and needs « le, la, les ».
The program does not allow me to see my mistake so I can't compare my sentence with the correct answer.
The subject pronoun "tu" never elides.
The object pronoun "te" becomes"t'" before a word starting with a vowel sound.
