"Here is a letter for you."
Translation:Voici une lettre pour vous.
53 Comments
what's the difference between "voici" and "voila"? I would think they'd be interchangeable.
voici vs voilà work like ici / là (here/there), -ci /-là, ceci /cela (this/that)
All "ci" endings mean something closer to you (space or time) than "là" endings.
Like Sitesurf said, it is a stressed pronoun, and it is used in the predicate of the sentence (almost always the part of the sentence after the first verb). In English, you might not notice (if it's your native language) but each pronoun has another version (except for you). subject - predicate I - me (je - moi) you - you (tu - toi/vous - vous) he - him (il - lui) she - her (elle - elle) they - them (ils - eux/elles - elles) we - us (nous - nous) one - them (on - soi)? Examples: "I go with him", "I" is the subject of the sentence (because the verb comes after it) while "him" is in the rest of the sentence after the noun and the verb. Nobody would say "Me go with he" because that would sound really weird and wrong. "Voici une lettre pour toi" is a little harder. In English at least, because it translates to "Here is a letter for you", "here" is the subject (because the verb "is" comes after it), so "you" is the stressed pronoun. "They eat with you" - "Elles mangent avec toi" "He loves her" - "Il adore lui" Please correct me if I'm wrong on anything, thanks in advance! I hope this was helpful and that I didn't confuse you more D: ; I think it's just knowing the English/French grammar, I guess.
It is a stressed pronoun (or disjunctive pronoun), to be used notably after prepositions.
This is the list: moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux, elles
As you can see, not all are different from their subject form.
"voici une lettre à vous" would mean something else: a colleague of yours cleaning his/her desk finds out a letter which does not belong to him/her; then he/she might hand over that letter to you and say that (it will mean possession, whoever wrote the letter in the first place).
But if a DHL guy knocks on your door to deliver a letter "for you", the preposition will be "pour vous"
I know mistakes are asked not to be reported here but does anyone else have problems with spelling of certain words being changed at the moment of pressing 'check' and then losing a heart because of this? I know to press the x which is supposed to ensure the spelling is correct but this often does not seem to work. I am frustrated with this.
See here? Did not know that, but it's good to know I can translate it that way!
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As in earlier post voice isnt french but voici is. Voici is vois ici squished together so see here basically. Also like here is... yes they are both demonsteative pronouns. Voilá used much more often by yhe french though to mean here is... or there is...
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But they are not used exactly the same (voilá celá and ça) there are earlier and later posts here that explain much better than I. Reading these all the way through has been such a great jelp to me and my thanks goes out to those who often take the time to explain things to others
"tu" is the familiar "you" to be used as a single subject: "tu es mon ami"
"te" is the direct and indirect object form (when the verb is constructed with preposition "à"): je te vois (voir quelqu'un); je te parle (parler à quelqu'un).
"toi" is the stressed/disjunctive form to be used
- after a preposition: "je viens avec toi"
- as a multiple subject: "toi et moi sommes riches"
- in short questions and short answers: "est-ce toi ?" - "oui, toi !"
Why doesn't "Une lettre pour toi est voici" not work? Does "Voici/Voila" aways need to come at the beginning of the sentence? Merci
"voici" is the contraction of "vois-ici" = lit. "see-here" = here is
"Une lettre pour toi est ici" could be used in real life = a letter for you is here.
Should "pour" be followed by subjects or objects? Cuz here it is "pour toi", and I believe I've seen "pour elle" as well. What is the rule here?
After any proposition including "pour" you need a stressed pronoun.
The trick is that not all pronouns have a specific stressed form:
- je - moi
- tu - toi
- il - lui
- elle - elle
- nous - nous
- vous - vous
- ils - eux
- elles - elles
After a preposition, "je, tu, il, ils" change to their "stressed" form (see above)
I said "Voici un lettre pour vous", but it said I should have used "courrier". Why is it wrong to use lettre?
une lettre is feminine. So if you use un, the automated checker suggests "courrier" because it is a masculine noun.
I'm having a problem with this question. Because none of the three alternatives work as correct. I can't advance of level because I can't pass by this question. I would like some help. I appreciate.
As far as I know, when you fail, you are shown the correct answer(s).
In multiple choice questions, you are requested to choose ALL correct answers and not one at random. If there are 2 correct translations, you have to tick 2 boxes.
"toi" is the stressed pronoun for "tu" (informal "you")
"vous" is the stressed pronoun for "vous" (singular formal or plural "you").
If you wrote "un lettre", which is wrong because "une lettre" is feminine, the computer checker naturally proposed the closest masculine synonym, which is "un courrier".
Please read the instructions again: you are requested to choose ALL correct options.
Therefore, if there are 2 correct translations, you have to tick the 2 boxes.
Most probably because you submitted "un lettre" which is wrong, since "une lettre" is feminine. So the system suggested the next valid masculine alternative, "un courrier".
"Tu" is used exclusively as a single subject. After a preposition like "pour", you need the stressed pronoun "toi": ... pour toi.
