"Il faudrait qu'ils en parlent au patron."

Translation: They should tell the boss about it.

[steve381279]

Why is "They should talk to the boss" marked wrong?

[Sitesurf]

You missed the translation of "en", which stands for "de + something mentioned before", and which translates to "about it".

[DeeStern]

So I put "They would have to talk about it with the boss. DuoLingo said "They would have to talk with the boss about it." I'm sorry, but I don't see the difference! I'm sure grammarians will have a complex answer why my answer was wrong; but it really bothers me when things like this come up on Duo. Thanks for letting me vent!

[Sitesurf]

I am the grammarian here, but I can make a short and simple answer:

• parler à = to talk to
• to talk with = parler avec

[Gordon964264]

Why was "qu'il en parle" marked wrong? There is no difference in pronunciation between the singular and plural as far as I am aware.

[Sitesurf]

There is a Z liaison between "ils" and "en".

[benmaja]

Would "they must talk about it to the boss" be OK?

[Sitesurf]

"They must" does not express the conditional mood there is in "faudrait". The best translation is really "they should". Alternatively, you can use "they would need/have to".

[benmaja]

Many thanks Sitesurf, I hadn't noticed the conditional ending

[Jackie768]

Is there a difference between "ils devraient" and "il faudrait que..." here?

[Sitesurf]

They are interchangeable except for the construction:

• Ils devraient en parler... (infinitive)
• Il faudrait qu'ils en parlent... (subjunctive)

[Ymeagain]

Don't you normally use dire if you want to mean to tell ?

[Sitesurf]

"Dire" is like "to say", it needs an object:

• Il faudrait qu'ils le disent au patron = They should say it to the boss.

[Ymeagain]

Ah yes "dire qch à qn to tell sb sth" as Collins abbreviates it.