"Je suis un enfant."
Translation:I am a child.
97 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
In the Multiple-Choice Question, the stem is "Je suis un..." followed by several choices:
- enfant (masculine noun)
- femme (feminine noun)
- fille (feminine noun)
- pomme (feminine noun)
Since the stem ends in "un" (masculine indefinite article), it can only be followed by a masculine noun.
I remember when I started the French course I couldn't figure out why I was always getting things wrong in multiple choice. But after a while, I figured out that it had something to do with the gender of the article. Thanks!
would you (say you're a child) write this differently depending on your gender IE: un/une ?
Yes, "enfant" can be either masculine or feminine. So a boy would say "Je suis un enfant." and a girl would say "Je suis une enfant."
"un" (masculine) sounds different from "une" (feminine).
You can listen to the audio by clicking on the speaker button with the links below:
Learn this exercise before exploring further. You will need to learn how to conjugate verbs.
- Je suis = I am
- Tu es = You are
- Il/Elle est = He/She is
- Nous sommes = We are
- Vous êtes = you are
- Ils/Elles sont = They are
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Could "Je suis un enfant" also translate to 'I am a kid,' since it's the same thing as a child?
The issue is that "child" always works for "enfant" whereas "kid" is an informal word that might be used, but it is not always appropriate to shift to an informal equivalent. The counterpart for "kid" in French is "gosse" or "gamin(e)".
Since this course is designed for English speakers who in theory are perfectly well apprised of the differences between "kid" and "child" I don't really understand this argument.
"kid" is much more commonly used relative to "child" than either "gamin" or "gosse" (or both together) is used relative to "enfant": kid vs. child enfant vs. gamin/gosse, which means that the vast majority of the time that one wanted to translate "kid" the natural French choice would be "enfant." Hence, to not accept it as a translation the other way is to distort the language (and also to be at variance with every other course from English I've seen on Duolingo, to the best of my recollection). This one-to-one correspondence idea I fear serves to work against the huge bulk of work the contributors undoubtedly put in to get people to realize that translating word by word is not the way to go.
You are right, there should be a liaison between "suis" and "enfant", and it should sound like "Je suis-Z-un enfant."
We'll fix the audio problems as soon as possible. Thanks!
"enfant" is a masculine and feminine word, though it is almost always used in the masculine form.
See:
See Remy's response to u83rmensch elsewhere in this thread.
But as he says here, "enfant" is quite preponderantly masculine: http://bit.ly/2szkwNg.
When u translate it to "Iam an infant", it says, "Wrong!!! The answer is: Iam a child", but don't infant and child mean the same thing....You can't ALWAYS think same as the computer....
FR "Enfant" never means "infant". It looks like it would be, doesn't it? But it doesn't. "Enfant" means "child". The English "infant" would be translated as either "le bébé" or "le nourrisson".
Although "enfant" looks like infant, they mean very different things.
Enfant (French) - child
Infant (English) - baby
Anyone else think it's funny that a grown man's voice is saying 'I am a child'?
I answered with "I have a child" (don't ask why) and it came up with the correct answer being "I followed a child". I don't see how "I have a child and "I followed a child" could be the same. Could someone please explain to me? Merci!
It is a strange coincidence that the first person singular conjugation of the verb "être" (to be) and the first person singular conjugation of the verb "suivre" (to follow) are exactly the same: je suis. So "je suis" could be either "I am" or "I follow" (I am following).
If you got the answer wrong and the correction was I followed a child, then it does not mean your answer and the correction have the same meaning...
n6zs has answered your question above.
how do i know what it's asking when its so vague? it doesnt give me any context, i'm supposed to just guess
Given the multiple choice question, you have the first part of the sentence, called the "stem", followed by the choices. The stem ends with "un" which is a masculine article. It can only be followed by a masculine noun. So "fille" and "femme" don't work (they are feminine nouns). The only correct answer is "enfant" (child).
The term "suspension of disbelief" is useful in learning situations to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable for the sake of the experience, enjoyment of it, or in this case, for learning purpose. I.e., if you are going to learn French on Duolingo, you will need to open up to the possibility of saying something for the purpose of learning, not because it is a true statement for you.
I dont really know how to get a grip of french if im honest any one got any tricks?
You're on Level 1. The "trick" is to apply yourself daily, try to understand why things are either "right" or "wrong". Use other resources as necessary, especially a FR/EN dictionary. French on Duolingo is heavily slanted toward grammar. So if you're good at English grammar, you stand a better chance at understanding French grammar as long as you remember that English rules don't apply to French and French rules don't apply to English. Start simply:
- Bonjour = hello
- Comment ça va ? = How are you (How's it going?)
- Merci beaucoup = thank you very much
- Continue until you finish the course
- Repeat
you are very patient! well done! thank you for all your helpful comments! much appreciated!
"A kid" = une gosse or un gamin. "Un enfant" = a child. Plus "kid" is always an informal word whereas "child" is not.
The correct answer is usually one of the choices. In this case only femme and fille were enumerated. Oh well!
You had a fill-in-the-blank question, didn't you? "Je suis un ..." may only be followed by a masculine noun. "Une fille" and "une femme" are both feminine nouns and cannot possibly be correct solutions.
Because "pomme" is a feminine gender noun (la pomme, une pomme). I.e., there is no "un pomme".
Just as "child" and "kid" are different in English, the French use "enfant" and either "gamine" or "gosse" in French. "Kid" is by its nature an informal term and while it is often used interchangeably, it is not always advisable to do so. To help you remember that, Duolingo will always accept "child" for "enfant".
The answer has already been posted among the comments. Please get into the habit of reading them before posting the same question again.
I'm wondering if there is a differnet word that directly translates to "kid" in French because for this question, it said I was wrong when my answer was "I am a kid"?
There are several words in French that mean "kid". "Gamin(e)", "gosse". It's helpful to download a French dictionary app so you can look up questions like this and then if you still don't understand, you can ask for more help and others will be happy to assist you.
wonder what the difference between child and kid is? I guess it's that only child is right
The answer is explained in the comments already on this page. Please read the comments before posting a new question.
'Suis' is only used for 'Je', just like how 'am' is only used for 'I'. You never say 'the apple am red'. You never say 'le pomme suis rouge'. And you never say 'J'est un enfant' (I is a child).
Why is "I am a kid" considered incorrect when kid and child are pretty much the same things?
I know the liaison is mandatory between 'un' and 'enfant' but is optional between 'suis' and 'un.' In this sentence could you do both or is it only correct to do one liaison in a row?
"I am a child" and "I am a kid" mean the SAME ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ THING, STOP GASLIGHTING ME, DUOLINGO!!!
why is it that, sometimes ''enfant'' is masculine and sometimes ''enfant'' is feminine. I don't understand. can somebody please help me here.
My answer was correct, letter for letter, yet the software marked me wrong
so uhhh it says "I am a kid" is incorrect but "I am a child" is right the hell
- 1568
Why isn't "I am a kid" accepted? Other languages have accepted "kid" instead of "child"...
I don't think any child would actually say this alk tje ones I know say they are "big kids". ☺
How we identify gender of an object in french is it same as hindi because in english we have limited difference?
