"If you put in a little sugar, it will be less sour."
Translation:Si tu mets un peu de sucre, ce sera moins acide.
23 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
286
I was tempted to use ajouter instead of mettre. It seemed to translate "put in" better, but I stuck with mettre.
If I recaall Duo uses 'add' when using the verb ajouter.. i can't recall ajouter translated as put(in). I could be wrong. However I have been paying close attention because I noted that DUO does not use a preposition for 'in' with mettre in this context but needs 'sur' in others.
- 122
Is there not a nuanced difference of meaning in a cooking context, reflected in both languages? 'Put in' would be more natural when discussing which ingredients to include before starting to cook, whereas 'add' suggests to me that cooking has already started and modifications are being made to a 'work in progress'. I accept that in practice there would be some overlap, but it's reasonable for learning purposes that Duo prefers a direct translation.
- 269
"il" would only qualify a masculine thing (in French) = a coffee, a tea (un café, un thé, etc.) With "ce" it could be masculine or feminine : a dish, a beverage (un plat, une boisson).
But presumably we're talking about a specific thing that was referenced in the conversation... So I would il or elle would be acceptable.
I am not an expert(moderator) but i think my explanation (below)using the site refenced by Roody is well thought out.
CA canmot be the subject pronoun for the verb ETRE. Keep n eye for when yoo see CA... you will not see it for ETRE.
- 543
some links
https://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/mettre+un+peu+sucre.html https://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/search?source=auto&query=ajouter+un+peu+sucre
it seems both ajouter and mettre are commonly used for this phrase
IL works when you are describing a specific noun!'
"If you put in a little sugar, it will be less sour.".. There is no SPECIFIC reference to what will taste less acid... the only reference is the very unspecific 'it' which does not refer back to any noun previously mentioned in the sentence. So you have to use 'ce' here.
I am reposting the SITE referenced by Roody above. IL vous sera utile.(See what I did there. I mentioned SITE so you know that 'it' refences a specific noun ..and so I CAN USE 'IL sera' since site is masculine. You wouldn't know whether to use il or elle in this sentence because you DO NOT KNOW what will be less acid.
When you go to the site look at the sentences under the section titled "compare with il est" . The context is very similar to this sentence.