"Émile broke both feet from falling!"
Translation:Émile s'est cassé les deux pieds en tombant !
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1315
No.
Émile s'est cassé tous les (dix) doigts en tombant ! would be possible (although unfortunate).
Yes, to convey the meaning of "both", although it may seem redundant.
Il s'est cassé les pieds. - He broke his feet. (literally "he broke himself the feet")
Il s'est cassé les deux pieds. - He broke both feet. (literally "he broke himself the two feet")
It would also be "Émilie s'est cassé les deux pieds en tombant !" because "cassé" agrees with the Direct Object ("les deux pieds") only when it precedes the verb.
In this case, the (feminine) reflexive pronoun "se" is a PIO (Preceding Indirect Object), not a PDO (Preceding Direct Object), so it does not agree.
If we use a pronoun to refer back to a previously established context of broken feet then it becomes "Émilie se les est cassés en tombant !".
- 1890
As it was "Au pied" in the previous sentence, when one foot was broken, I put "AUX pieds" here, but was marked wrong.
Was that because "Aux" does not specify "Both" feet?
That's because aux would mean "on the" (plural). You can break feet, the feet, both feet (literally "the two feet" in French), but not break "on the feet".
- 1890
Thanks for responding Nathan :]
In that case, was the previous sentence " cassé au pied " incorrect? [I think the entire sentence was "Il s'est cassé au pied en tombant" but am not 100% certain].
Are you sure you're not getting confused with se blesser au pied ?
I can't find any trace of "Il s'est cassé au pied".
- 1890
I don't think so Graeme, but I'm not 100% sure as that was 24 hours ago, and my memory is like that of a gold fish! ;]
Or alternatively it could have been se faire mal au pied en tombant.
I don't think it's very likely that Duo would have got se casser le pied en tombant wrong.