41 Comments
"sympa" is really versatile, you can use it whenever you have a positive opinion about anything or anyone!
I can't think of a single time in Québec when I have heard the word "sympa" used in a sentence.
I watch some French TV on FilmOn, especially tennis matches, and I've heard it quite a bit.
I agree, i answered with 'le menu...' - although i assume with practice it is possible to hear the difference.
I hear le menu, not leur menu. How can you tell the difference? Someone please explain? Thanks
Well most of the times I hear [luhh menyoo] which is a bit different from [luh menyoo]. I had this confusion before but now it seems a bit different.
I think you could confuse "leur menu" with "les menus" but then the verb form "est" tells you it is in singular, so you can eliminate "les". "Le" has a slightly different sound. Definitely a subtle difference though.
Does "friendly" not make sense in the context of a menu? I put "friendly" instead of "nice" and was marked incorrect.
No, I would think being friendly is a quality only people can possess unless you want to personalise the menu.
You can tell that a user interface is friendly so I use it here with the same point of view.
I hear the phrase user-friendly often nowadays. Somewhat different meaning, but perhaps it explains why "friendly" is occasionally being applied to things. It still sounds weird to me to describe a thing as friendly, but time will tell whether it becomes established in English.
I also said le menu est sympa but once listened again i heard a slight gutteral sound when she says the r. So there is a difference but wow, you really have to pay attention. Hopefully it will come with practice
A person can be sympa, meaning friendly, kind.
Un menu sympa is original, creative, mouth-watering.
Une robe sympa is stylish, well-cut, fashionable.
The problem with "sympa" (= sympathique) is that people use it at anytime for anything, for lack of a more accurate vocabulary.
So could 'sympa' and 'joli/jolie' be the same meaning and use it in the same way?
'sympa' has become a meaningless adjective, since indeed it can mean joli (lovely), amical (friendly), attrayant (attractive)...
it is like "nice", meaning whatever fits the situation.
So would people be encourage or discourage to use sympa, and does the native speaker use it often? Since it has so many meaning, I'm sure I will get confuse in the future.
"sympa" is comparable to "nice", you can use it when no other adjective comes to your mind...
But somehow, I still came across a phrase that "la fille est jolie" is wrong and the only right phrase is "la fille est sympa". It that a duolingo error?
For people "sympa" means "kind"
For things, "sympa" can be "nice or pleasant"
la fille est sympa = the girl is nice la fille est jolie = the girl is pretty
Only if the comment is about the menu card itself (lay-out, typeface, pics, illustrations...), but the French for "cute" is "mignon".
"Their menu is nice" could also mean of a good design. Like alligator-print leather trim and brass corner covers.
New words come in every new lesson. There must be a first time for each of them and you can hover on new words to see what they mean (usually the 1st word appearing is the translation you will need in the sentence you are shown).
I put - their menu is ‘nice’ but it came back wrong!! Told to put ‘Their menu is ‘cool’ Above translation given: is my first response. That’s a bit weird.
I translated this to "their menu is good" as "kind" did not seem right but it marked me wrong and said "cool" as the word for sympa. Thoughts?
'Nice' seems to be the American translation for so many French words. Personally, I hardly ever use the word because it is so bland and meaningless.
Great! We've found a French version of the ubiquitous but meaningless "nice!"
