"Je fais une tarte à la noix de coco, tu en veux ?"
Translation:I'm making a coconut tart; do you want some of it?
15 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
To anyone wondering why this English phrase includes the rather awkward 'of it' at the end of the sentence:
'Some (of it)' = 'en'
In French, the pronoun 'en' refers to something already mentioned in an earlier clause (in this case, a coconut tart) and is ALWAYS necessary. In English we can ask "do you want some" (without saying 'of it') and it's understood that we're still talking about the coconut tart; but in French you MUST include the pronoun 'en' for the sentence to sound correct.
eg. Je fais du thé - tu EN veux? = I'm making some tea - do you want some (of the tea I've just told you about)?
In reality, very few native English speakers would include the 'of it' but it is a good way for Duo to draw your attention to the importance of the pronoun 'en' in the French sentence.
Hi everyone, is there a difference between tart and pie in English?
A pie can have a top crust. Also, I've never heard of a savory meat tart, but there are chicken pies and steak and kidney pies. I suspect that regional differences would make it impossible to come up with universally applicable terms, though; somewhere there may probably even be a pork tart.
Is fais really pronounced with a t at the end here? The woman clearly says "Je fait une tarte..." Is that a correct pronunciation or just a Duo problem?
Hi Kristian, I'm a French native and I can tell you that the pronunciation of this sentence here is good. You have to say je fai(s) with a silent (s) at the end.
Gabrielle, I'm pretty sure the pronunciation was wrong in the recent past. They seemed to have switched speakers (or synthetic speaker programs); everything sounds a bit different, and mostly better, in the last few weeks. As you say, it's fine now.
1130
In two similar sentences, "I'm making" has been translated differently. Je prépare une tarte aux noix pour le goûter and Je fais une tarte à la noix de coco. Are they absolutely interchangeable when it comes to making food? Because of this ridiculous heart thing, I'm now very reluctant to attempt different possibilities. Is there an exception to the rule if they are interchangeable? Thanks :)
(Thanks for that DL, you've taken all the fun out of learning!)
Why was "do you want it" marked wrong? I thought en could mean part or whole.
If the French speaker meant "it" (the whole) she would ask tu la veux ? But it would be an odd circumstance where the speaker was making a single tart and suddenly asked someone else if he wanted it. If she were making more than one (des tartes), then it could be tu en veux une ?
I don't see how the given French means anything other than "some" or "some of it."
With tartes, when is it "à la" and when is it "aux"?
Apple pie is "tarte aux pommes" and Coconut pie is "tarte à la noix de coco". I'd love to know the 'recipe' for this.
- 1320
Coconuts are really big. You probably just need one to make a pie. Walnuts are little so you have gateau aux noix.
I don't know why anyone downvoted you, Roody-Roo. I guess one could split hairs and say coconut, like chocolate, is uncountable. Gâteau au chocolat vs tarte aux framboises.
- 1130
That sounds to be the most likely reason, because you never know how big the tart is supposed to be ;)
Also there are certain ingredients which seem to be named more like a flavouring rather than a "stand-alone" ingredient. You don't find chunks of carrot in carrot cake, and if you hear someone say "chocolate cake", you'll expect chocolate-flavoured sponge, filling, perhaps a topping of real chocolate (but in this case, I don't think the topping counts. You could put fruit on it and it would still be called chocolate cake), but you won't expect to see bits of a bar of chocolate in it.
Whereas strawberry shortcake or black-cherry gateau (which for francophones is a particular kind of cake - rich, layered, full of calories!) definitely implies the presence of your actual strawberries or black cherries. That's my guess anyway.