75 Comments
Another way to remember is to think of the movie character "Amélie" -- and how she "improves" the lives of those around her.
200
no, you can make a bad situation better. an example from the merriam dictionary is "trying to ameliorate the suffering of people who have lost their jobs". To me, to fix something is quite absolute while to improve something is a matter of degree.
A helpful hint is to remember that «améliorer» is derived from «meilleur» (better).
Could this also be "It improves his meal" As in "He's adding pepper, it improves his meal."?
- 200
I think you might be right, but you should use ça if you don't know what "it" is. To use a subject pronoun for it, the noun was generally introduced prior (weather is one exception, so is time).
So, only when you're referring to a particular noun that was previously stated would I use il or elle, and it would have to be the right gender, yes? When 'it' is undefined, just use ça?
- 200
pretty much (there are exceptions unfortunately). il/elle are usually definite pronouns were ça is an indefinite pronoun.
I wrote, he improves his meal instead of improving HER meal and lost a heart. Why am I wrong?
To better one's meal is not used in English, you ac say make better or improve, but better one's meal is never said.
Do french people really say this "Il améliore son repas" ? I mean i really dont get the meaning of it, he improves his meal? :/
- 2009
Duolingo does not give us ready-to-use pre-packaged phrases. It just teaches us grammar and vocabulary.
The phrases are somewhat randomised, then? So ... this wouldn't be a phrase that a French person would use? I certainly wouldn't say it in English.
- 2009
No, not randomized. When my father studied French in school many, many decades ago, his textbook taught sentences such as "La plume de ma tante es sur la table de mon oncle" -- "My aunt's pen is on my uncle's table". Certainly nothing anyone would say normally, but a good educational tool nonetheless.
Depends on context. Yes son = both his and her. However, unless the reader already knows that the meal belongs to someone else the logical assumption is that there is only one person involved, and thus the meal is his.
I wrote: He enhances his meal. I believe the meaning is the same, but perhaps there is a different word for "enhance?"
- 2009
It's a regular -er verb:
http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french-verb-ameliorer.html
I wish Duolingo would come up with a few more examples of how the word amėliore can be used because the sentence makes no sense to me.
This is a strange sentence or choice of words to use for "améliore".
I have never heard this expression in English, at least not the United States. One might say: "he improves the meal" or "he improves his recipe". Perhaps this could be changed to "Il améliore son discours."
- 593
It is disheartening to get the translation correct only to be counted wrong because of a minor spelling error.
- 945
rehausser = to enhance s'occuper = to fix ajouter = to add
Come on people use your dictionaries 'améliorer = to improve'! If you don't know a good one here are a few good ones.
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais https://dictionary.cambridge.org/
So improving a meal would consist of adding a condiment or having a glass of wine with it ??
English is a language composed of lots of other languages, and many of the words have multiple connotations. In English, we use "to fix" to mean "to make better," "to solve" (as in a problem), "to prepare" (as in food), and "to repair." However, French is more precise in its word choice. In certain contexts, I can see your translation as correct. Unfortunately, Duo isn't as sophisticated a program as the human brain, so it follows more precise rules. It can be frustrating, but try to remember to be as precise as possible when making translations within the program and to pick a word that has fewer meanings. It helps me to think about it like I'm trying to be as clear as possible to someone who is not a native speaker.
The "correct" version that was shown said "He betters his meal." That makes no sense.
- 2009
"To better something" means "to improve something". One might better oneself by studying hard in school.
- 2009
This page has the full conjugation of améliorer:
http://www.conjugation-fr.com/conjugate.php?verb=am%E9liorer&x=67&y=18
its very picky and only lets what the computer wants be right but it does make sense
Anyone else hear, "Il est meilleur sans répas?"
It makes no sense, but this is the second time I've gotten this sentence and this is what I hear every time! Lol
if I told anybody that" He increases his meal" as duolingo suggests, you would be laughed at.
- 2009
Because "son repas" is singular--"his meal".
Plural would be "ses repas" -- "his meals".
This is correct but when I did it the translation said that is was her meal and not his meal. I am confused.
- 2009
It's "son" because "repas" is a masculine noun. It could equally be "his meal" or "her meal".
- 2009
"Repas" is "meal", singular.
"sa" is the possessive for feminine singular things
"son" is the possessive for masculine singular things
"ses" is the possessive for plural things.
- 2009
It naturally ends in "s" in the singular and the plural has the same form, so "repas" can be either singular or plural. But you can tell from context which it is because any article/adjective/possessive must agree with it.
SINGULAR
le repas
un repas
mon repas
ton repas
son repas
notre repas
votre repas
leur repas
PLURAL
les repas
des repas
mes repas
tes repas
ses repas
nos repas
vos repas
leurs repas
