"Je n'ai acheté ni dinde ni poulet, j'ai oublié."
Translation:I didn't buy either turkey or chicken; I forgot.
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1875
This entire lesson with its either/or in the negative is questionable to me. I'd much rather say "I bought neither turkey nor chicken." I might say "I didn't buy turkey or chicken." The way it is worded with "either" I seems to me that it means "I bought one or the other, but I didn't buy both." I think people would still assume neither was bought, but it sounds awkward to me. (I'm native to the US, west coast, curious if this sounds just fine to others, especially in the UK and elsewhere around the world.)
I'm from New Zealand, not the UK, but it sounds weird to me too. Not incorrect exactly, just not how people talk in real life.
- 1329
It sounds fine to me. According to Kwiziq:
"Whereas in English you have three ways to express the negation - not either… or / neither… nor… / not... or... - in French, you only use ne... ni... ni..."
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/how-to-use-ne-ni-ni-neither-nor-negation
In order to facilitate reverse translation, Duo is correctly using the first of these options in default translations. They also accept the alternative of removing "not" (n't) and using "neither...nor". So there are two correct options:
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I did not buy either turkey or chicken....
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I bought neither turkey nor chicken....
(I'm getting tired of being downvoted on this. I have linked to two grammar sites that showed the correct use of "not...either...or". If you folks want to continue being wrong, it's fine with me.)
Re: "Je n'ai acheté ni dinde ni poulet, j'ai oublié."
Roody-Roo: My translation was "Je n'ai acheté ni dende ni poulet; j'ai oublié." (I bought neither turkey nor chicken...") which was also accepted as alternate translation per Duo. And, I minored in English, so you're points are well-taken!
- 1189
The way that Duo is using "either" makes it sound as though the person making the statement is unsure about what they did. This whole section makes my head hurt.
- 648
Why are there no articles before the nouns here? We've had people that like neither the cherries nor the strawberries. But here it's just turkey and chicken, not the turkey and the chicken.
- 1409
In American English there would have to be a reason for us to insert either. Otherwise, we would Simply say I didn't buy Turkey or chicken , I forgot. I see how they would, or why they would write it that way and French, i.e., ni...ni., But the translation in English should not require the use of the word either.
- 318
Already been said but this lesson, escpecially concerning the placement and usage of 'either' isn't accurate to spoken English. The lesson wants to tell us to put either last until this question where it comes first.
