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- "Les enfants lisent un livre."
74 Comments
2270
Les enfants ont lu un livre = the children read (past tense) a book. Les enfants lisent un livre (present tense) = the children are reading a book.
2270
Does "un" = "a" or "one"? It will be translated as "a" (or) "an" when "un/une" is used...
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before a noun to refer to a single thing that has not been mentioned before, especially when you are not referring to a particular thing. Example: J'ai acheté une voiture = I bought a car.
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to refer to a type of thing (or person) someone is. Example: She wants to be a doctor.
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any or everything of the type you are referring to. Example: Can you ride a bike? A teacher needs a lot of patience.
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before uncountable nouns to limit their meaning in some way. Example: I have a limited knowledge of Spanish.
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before nouns of action when referring to one example of the action. Example: Take a look at this. I'm going to have a snack. There was a knock at the door.
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to refer to a unit or container of something, especially something you eat or drink (i.e., a serving). Example: I would love a coffee. I had a yogurt for lunch.
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before the first but not the second of two nouns that are typically considered a unit. Example: a cup and saucer; a knife and fork.
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before some words that express a number or amount. Example: a few days; a lot of money
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as a determiner rather than the number "one", unless you are specifically making a point about the number. Example: a hundred, a thousand, a dozen, there were three men and a woman.
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when saying how often something happens in a certain period. Example: take one tablet three times a day (or) I swim once a week.
In these situations, "un/une" will NOT be translated as "ONE". Source: Cambridge English Dictionary. Use "an" when the following word begins with a vowel or vowel sound.
Well, differences between 'a' and 'an' are only relevant in English with regards to the first letter of the following word. Whether it's 'a' or 'one' depends on context and are otherwise interchangeable (unless you are explicitly stating that it was only one item I guess) :/ Can't expect direct word-for-word translation b/w such different languages, can you?..
It is natural to say "children do this and that" when this refers to all children in the world or all children as a homogeneous group.
In this case, not all children would read a book I think.
The issue is that in French "le, la, les" are used for generalities and for specificity. In this sentence, I think it is correct to consider that specific children are referred to. Therefore the English sentence needs an article: "the children read a book".
1317
I am doing this exercise in the new crown system. The content of exercise is not new to me. However, I keep being rejected by duo, such as the current one.
My answer is "the kids are reading a book ". In almost all exercises, duo allows both 'kids" and "children" for "les enfants". I have got at least 3 rejections because of using "kids".
My question: Does duo no longer allow "kids" for "les enfants"?
Grammatical persons are identified with the following personal pronouns:
- 1st person singular = je = I
- 2nd person singular = tu = the familiar "you"
- 3rd person singular = il, elle, on = he, she, it, one
- 1st person plural = nous = we
- 2nd person plural = vous = the formal singular "you" or the plural "you"
- 3rd person plural = ils, elle = they
When the subject is a third party and singular (garçon, fille, homme, fille, femme, enfant, animal, chose), the conjugation is 3rd person singular: il/elle/on lit = he/she/it/one reads
When the subject is a third party and plural (garçons, hommes, filles, femmes, enfants, animaux, choses...), the conjugation is 3rd person plural = ils/elles lisent = they read.