"Je pense que personne ne goûtera ce gâteau moche."
Translation:I think no one will taste this ugly cake.
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It would be more natural to translate this into English as "I don't think anyone will try this ugly cake". I suspect the natural way in French would be to phrase it like that too but that would presumably involve the subjunctive, which hasn't been taught yet.
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❝ I suspect the natural way in French would be to phrase it like that too but that would presumably involve the subjunctive, ❞
The french sentence is rather natural, no need for subjunctive here.
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If that were so, would the French be quelq’un or personne? I seem to remember from school (60 years ago!) that the negative is used e.g. literally He is bigger than you don’t think. Il est plus grand qu’on ne pense pas. So, Je ne pense pas que personne ne goûtera ... ?? Which would be quite confusing. Or am I totally off the beaten track?!
You might be thinking of "il est plus grand qu'on (ne) le pense", without "pas". If I wanted to phrase it as you suggested, I'd be inclined to say "Je ne pense pas que quelqu'un goûte ce gateau", which indeed, involves the subjunctive but no second "ne".
If it has no flavor at all I can eat it without tasting it. Trying or eating will make more sense.
Why is "I think THAT no one will taste that ugly cake." incorrect. Doesn't "que" translate to "that"? As a native English speaker, "that" is common usage in this translation. Please advise.
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My dictionary has the meaning of 'awful' for 'moche'. 'Ugly' seems an odd word choice to describe a cake.
It feels wrong to use moche as often as Duo does. Ugly is a very mean word in english and we would never use it to describe a person as casually as is done in these exercises, and the word is nearly as out of place describing food. Is there a less nasty translation of moche that would make its frequent usage in these exercises more acceptable?
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If the shoe fits.... I don't know why people don't want to learn derogatory terms. Even if you never plan to use them yourself, it's important to recognize them when you hear or read them.
"Unfortunate-looking"? :-)
Doubt moche is particularly flattering either. Agree that it's difficult to find one word for "ugly food". Unappetizing? Horrible-looking?
"Je pense que personne ne goûtera ce gateau peu attrayant". I like that better. Thanks!
Because the construction that is used instead of "ne... pas" is "ne... personne". There are a few such constructions including "ne... rien" and "ne... plus". And inverted to "Personne ne...", there is still no "pas" required.
