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- "Vous et moi sommes cousins."
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This word is sometimes used for a kind of mosquito. Generally, mosquitos are translated as "moustiques" (a masculine noun "le moustique") or those pesky little ones in Canada and tropical parts of America, central and south especially, are called "maringouins" (also masculine "le maringouin"). They are measured in places by the square inch and are voracious. One always starts with the most common meaning to see if it fits. Not all mouseover hints work with all sentences, please use the best fit. The primary meaning should be tried first before the secondary meaning. We are not usually listening to mosquitoes talking.
http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-anglais/cousin http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/cousin/19996 http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/moustique/52999?q=moustique#52856 http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/maringouin/49500?q=maringouin#49407 http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/cousin/19997?q=cousin#19887
" We are not usually listening to mosquitoes talking" .If you have spent any time in the Canadian bush, you might think otherwise :(
Good one! Yes, I always wear extra clothing in summer there as I am allergic to them, but if I heard them saying this sentence I'd probably stay indoors completely.
Supposing "cousin" really means "mosquito", shouldn't it be "mosquitoes"?
In English both versions are correct plural with or without e. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosquito
moi = I here? I know that 'I' is supposedly correct and proper English but surely moi always translates as me, no?
"moi" is a stressed pronoun, used to emphasize the usual pronoun, or used as a complement:http://french.about.com/od/grammar/g/stressedpronoun.htm
Shooting from afar here, but to say it normally (what I would go for in English) would you use Vous et je? Or some other kind of order?
You should always try to use correct english I think. And it's not "supposedly" correct english. Apparently an easy way to remember whether to use me or I in a sentence is to remove the other party. It doesn't always work (like in this case because the rest of the sentence follows the "we" way of speaking) but it usually does:
- "My friend and I went to the beach" becomes "I went to the beach"
- "Sarah is coming to see me and my brother" becomes "Sarah is coming to see me"
The usage annoys me, but constructions like "It comes down to you and I" are common in English, and regular (i.e. used consistently according to internally coherent rules) among many speakers: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003937.html
I agree -- quite common and annoying. :) It's linguistic "hypercorrection"... people who say things such as "It comes down to you and I" believe they're speaking proper English, but in fact aren't.
I follow a slightly different rule. I drop the other party, and then try to find a conjugation in the same tense that will make the sentence sound correct. The one that has a correct sounding sentence (I in this case) is correct. "You and (I/me) are cousins" - "I are cousins" - "I am cousins" - "I am a cousin". As opposed to "You and (I/me) are cousins" - "me are cousins" - you have no where to go from here. It's caveman-speak no matter what. And "I" usually comes at the beginning of the sentence, and "me" usually comes at the end of the sentence.
I think that's the same rule, except you've figured out how to apply it to this sentence and I couldn't :-) the beginning/end pattern is a good tip too.
"vous et moi" = "nous", so your verb has to be conjugated like "nous sommes". cousin, cousine, cousins, cousines are both nouns and adjectives. here, you can translate "cousins" with "des" (noun) or without des (adjective).
I have tried to find a quick reference to the adjectival usage of 'cousin(e)' and failed (http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cousin).
I found it: "cousin" is a noun used as an adjective:
Les noms employés comme adjectifs s'accordent en genre et en nombre (s'ils admettent le masculin et le féminin). Ex : "Elles sont cousines".
http://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-14205.php
Just wanted to set the record straight: they are not both nouns and adjectives, but the nouns that sometimes are used as adjectives. Anyway, you are the greatest asset of Duo's French learners community :)
Is there a rule that makes "vous et moi" = "nous"? Will "vous et vous" be "êtes"? What will "moi et mon ami" be?
"Vous" is always "êtes". Adding more "vous" doesn't change this because "vous" can be any number of people from one up. You can work it out in English if that helps. Just replace the entire group with the only pronoun that makes sense:
- You and you; you come with me
- My friend and I; we went to the beach
- She and her husband; they were married last year
Note: the pronoun will always be plural because there will be a minimum of two people.
Could someone explain why the pronunciation is 'voo - et - moi' and not 'vous - et - moi'? I thought 's's are audible before vowels?
"je" is used exclusively as a single subject (as well as "tu", "il" and "ils")
je suis ton cousin
toi, lui, eux et moi sommes cousins
Wouldn't you use 'tu' in this situation? I mean, I wouldn't feel the need to 'vous' my cousin...
Remember that it's not necessarily a crowd of two. The "vous" could refer to a group of cousins as well.
