18 Comments
"sur la table" does mean "on the table"; "at the table" would be "à la table" or "à table".
my question also!
are they really sitting down on the table? surely they are sitting down at the table ?
In Quebec we use a different conjugation - tu t'assois, ne m'assois, il s'assoit..... These must be older French or only continental French?? The programme should up date to allow both possibilities
While "tu t'assieds" is the correct way to say it (it's called the "formes en ie et ey de 'asseoir'") oi is the more common way. Here's a quote from the Bescherelle: "Dans un usage soigné, les formes en ie et en ey sont préférables aux formes en oi. Mais, au figuré, ces formes en oi s'imposent : 'Ces élections assoiraient son pouvoir.'"
I hope that helps!
843
The translation is literally correct but no one "sits on the table to eat" but we do "sit at the table to eat".
Please correct this, Duo; “I sit at the table” “I seat myself at the table” But it is just not said: “I sit on the table”
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I'm pretty sure that the French sentence means the same thing as the English "on the table". Maybe the person is an old-fashioned taylor. Maybe there are no chairs. In other words, it's not an error, just another odd DL sentence.
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I understand sitting AT the table is a more common situation but the sentence means ON the table which is certainly possible and reasonable. But shouldn’t « You sit down on the table / You sit on the table » be accepted ?
I imagine the reason for sentences like this one is to make sure users are paying attention and actually learning the individual words. It catches out the people who would see the verb 'to sit' and the word 'table' and just guess that the sentence must be 'you are sitting at the table'.
DuoLingo isn't meant to be used as a phrase book. You aren't supposed to learn the sentences off by heart and recite them when needed.
The aim is for you to learn the language so that you can form your own sentences from scratch
I just want to know what it means. Is it "you are sitting on the table" (think, like a naughty kid might do),
or does it mean "you seat yourself at the table"
these are different. I don't care which is right, I just want to know which (or, both?)
"S'asseoir SUR la table" means to sit ON the table. When saying "sit AT the table" you can actually leave out the definite article: "s'asseoir á table"
