"Their children are reading."
Translation:Leurs enfants lisent.
33 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Duolingo: On the hover help, do not list words that are not applicable to the situation. You are confusing rather than helpful.
If you need help, please ask a precise question. Nobody can see what you have been doing during the exercise.
-
conjugation of verb être: je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. therefore "es" is only when subject is "tu".
-
In English, to mean that an action is in progress at the time you speak, you use the continuous verbal form, ie verb BE + action verb in the gerund form (-ing). o they are reading means they currently read In French, this verbal form does not exist (directly translated “ils sont lisant” is incorrect).
Therefore, you can translate either “ils lisent” or “il sont en train de lire”, where the construction verb être + en train de + infinitive correctly expresses the English continuous form.
I read the comments, and i want to say thank you to sitesurf i understand now the diffrence from leur and leurs i was sooo confused
2056
Can it not also be leur enfants lisent if referring to ONE couple? Leurs implies multiple couples' children.
Remember that in French, possessive adjectives agree with the object and not the owner. So, with "enfants" (plural), you need "leurs" (plural).
if you mean that the couple have only one child, you say "leur enfant".
to distinguish the plural form from the singular form, in oral, you will liaise "leurs-Z-enfants".
To sum up:
leur = many owners, one object;
leurs = many owners, many objects
Do I get it right?
I put that too and it said it was a problem of gender, shouldn't it be a problem of plural
Probably a bug, because "leur" and "leurs" are identical for "elles" and "ils"
ils sont lisent = they are read - it does not work either in French, or in English
"eating" is the gerund form of "eat" but the French language does not use that verbal form to express a continous action.
so "they are eating" = ils mangent (simple present = they eat) or ils sont en train de manger (equivalent to: they are in the process of eating)
"it does not work either in French, or in English" better to avoid the double negative?
French possessives agree with the object owned, not with the owner:
- son enfant (masc sing) = his/her child
- ses enfants (masc plur) = his/her children
- sa fille (fem sing) = his/her daughter
- ses filles (fem plur) = his/her daughters
It told me "pay attention to their gender" when i typed "leur" instead of "leurs." There is no gender, how am I supposed to "pay attention" to it?!
The machine does not always know how to flag an error. This is not a matter of gender, yuo are right, but of number: "leur" is for a singular noun, but "children" is plural, so "leurs enfants" has to be all plural.
because this would back translate to "their children are read", with 2 conjugated verbs, which is impossible in either language.
"are reading" is a continuous present form. This does not exist in French. Please read the rest of the thread to get full explanations.
I understand what my mistake is, but on 'Leur enfants lisent.' the hint is
'Pay attention to the gender. Leurs enfants lisent.'
However, it's not about gender, but there is no option to report an incorrect hint.
if the children belong to one parent is it right to say leur enfants?
The French language is very strict when it comes to singular and plural.
"Leur" and "leurs" are used exclusively when there are 2 owners or more.
"Leur enfant" = their child
"Leurs enfants" = their children
On this course, Duolingo does not accept "their" when there is one owner.