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- Topic: French >
- "Notre chemise est noire."
32 Comments
Kind of a weird statement. It should be "Our shirts are black". People generally don't share shirts.
Just sayin
In French, a singular object can be used with a plural subject every time it is obvious (like here) that it is "one each".
I agree that it is unlikely to share a shirt. My assumption is that they use unlikely statements just to demonstrate the semantics of a situation whether realistic or not. I think they should stick to realistic statements.
It can be realistic, though, with a suitable context: if a group of people (musicians, waiters, any crew or team) wear a uniform consisting of a black shirt, the same one for all members of the group, you could use the singular "our black shirt", couldn't you ?
You're right- it may be a little uncommon, but it's grammatically correct. I think generally it would be used if it was a specific article of clothing, like a Best Buy shirt "Their blue shirt." It's saying the design or look of the shirt, not a physical singular shirt, belongs to whatever "It" is.
soo.. can we still say "our shirts are black," as that is technically the correct English statement even if it isnt written like that in french??
The direct and correct translation is "our shirt".
However, since it is most probable that an English speaker will use a plural noun, "our shirts" is accepted as well.
They do if they wear a uniform, like as part of a sports team or a work uniform.
I entered "Notre chemise est noir." (masculin) instead of "notre chemise est noire." (féminin) and it accepted my answer.
I didn't notice I made a mistake until after. Is there a reason why this is a valid answer or did duo make a mistake here?
There might have been a glitch of some sort, because noir in masculine is definitely wrong if the subject is feminine.
"notre" is singular and you would use it with singular "chemise"
with "chemises" in plural, you have to use "nos"
The system says that "chemise" also means "folder." So why isn't "Our folder is black" a correct answer? Especially since it makes more sense (given the absolute lack of context!)?
a blouse is a variant of shirt for women, a bit too specific to just translate chemise/shirt.
Undershirt is posted in the menu to choose from, why is it considered incorrect? I always knew that chemise is undershirt when I was young. Why include undershirt in the menu and you are disqualifying its usage? I'll appreciate an honest answer. That's why we are here to learn and be confused. Thank you
an undershirt is "une petite chemise/une chemisette" (children's underwear), "un maillot de corps" (for men, with or without sleeves), "un débardeur" (no sleeves) "un T-shirt".
the prime meaning of "shirt" is "une chemise" = men's top with buttons on the front, long buttoned sleeves and a collar, to be worn primarily with a suit.
women's shirt = un chemisier
When should you pronounce chemise with a hard S, and when should you not? The DL lady pronounces it 'chemize' here
In many other instances DL pronounces it with a hard S though. Guess I should ignore those..
The central word here is "chemise", feminine singular.
All the other words are related to it:
- notre is singular
- est is 3rd person singular
- noire is feminine singular.
In plural: nos chemises sont noires (all words in plural)
How can I tell if noir/noire is supposed to be dark or black? I cannot see any pattern as to when it means dark and when it means black, and it is very frustrating to keep missing this word.
black = noir, noire, noirs, noires.
dark = foncé/e/s/es, sombre/s,obscure/s (figurative)
The circumflex accent is present exclusively in possessive pronouns:
- le nôtre, la nôtre, les nôtres
- le vôtre, la vôtre, les vôtres
And the pronunciation is different (please check with forvo.com or Google Translate).
If we used "our team/'s shirt is black", you would totally miss the point: a singular object belonging to a plural subject means "one each" if the object is not "sharable".
