37 Comments
It feels so awkward to say. Is "ay elle" the right pronunciation or is there a better, more natural way to say it?
No, that's how it's pronounced. I don't think it's awkward at all... I find it quite beautiful! Besides, French places a heavy emphasis on vowel sounds.
Liaison is obligatory only in certain cases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaison_(French)
From what I can comprehend of that, the z liaison between nous and et is still common, if not expected, though I THINK I recall a native francophone here commenting somewhere here that there generally is no t liaison after et.
Would this sentence be regarding physical proximity? - 'The field is between us and them' Or something abstract? - 'The argument is between us and them' Or either, depending on context?
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What about this sentence requires that elle/s must be in the plural form.
I had hit this sentence before so I got it right but otherwise it does not to have to be either singular or plural.
You can't tell by pronunciation alone, so one can only gather from context. If it marks you as wrong, report it.
This is between duolingo and me! I have spoken this sentence so many times that I have given up this lesson.
My wife, a native French speaker, doesn't pronounce any of the liaisons in this sentence.
That's actually normal: all the liaisons in this sentence are optional, and thus likely to be dropped in casual spoken French.
Especially the laison between nous and et sounds quite poshy, the one between c'est and entre is more usual but can also be dropped.
If you are referring to "elles" - because "elles" always means females.
Entre nous et elle (her)
Entre nous et elles (them -f)
Entre nous et lui (him - NB not he)
Entre nous et eux (them - m. or mixed)
Sorry I meant why not "He is between us and them". I know the answer now. It's because it's not a prepositional sentence about a person.
Où est Luc ? Il est à la banque. (correct)
Où est le stylo. C'est dans le meuble (correct)
I was overthinking this thing about il est and c'est too much.
Où est le stylo. C'est dans le meuble (correct)
That's not correct, it should be Il est dans le meuble.
The audio is fine though. No idea why all the moans. I lived in france for a year and am just touching up, and sounds fine to me. Bit more leiniency appreciated tho!
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Entre means between. When referring to a defined group it can mean among.
In English, between/among can have the same usage as French. He was one of those among the crowd. He was one of those between/among the men in the crowd.
In the former sentence, between doesn't work In the second sentence, you can use either between or among. Ditto for entre.
In the Duo French example, he isn't among anything but he is between something. Had you wanted to say he was among us and them (very unusual construction) you would use parmi.
Does the sense of this (without context) more likely indicate "this is (a private matter) concerning us and them" or "this is (a physical object) between us and them", or "this is a thing (a choice, say a contract or some such) that will go either to us or to them"?
Why didn't he pronounced the S in the NOUS? Since right after that there is a vowel letter.. NOUS ET
Heard no liasion between <sub>et</sub> and <sub>elles</sub>. Is it a correct pronounciation? I heard somewhere that you never make a liasion with <sub>et</sub>. Is that correct? Thanks
That is correct; you do not make a liaison with « et », whether before or after.
thanks a lot. is it possible that the rule of not making a liasion is for all 2 letters words' because just today i also didn't hear a liasion between <sub>es</sub> and a following vowel letter. sorry, can't remember when and where. but i do remember i heard it and thought it could mean something like this.. what do you say? thanks in advance
an English language rule is being ignored by duolingo. When there are two possessive articles, ie "mine" and "yours", it is bad form to put one's self first. It is "yours and mine", not "mine and yours". "Us and them" is bad English, and should not be accepted as correct. it should be "them and us"
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Hi Allan, so the same words, just reversed? Is this something like coming and going maybe, where it is reversed in the French?
I am wondering if it is a rule of French grammar, or if it is just un-ruled. Seems to me that this rule might well be incorporated by all languages, so to teach the moral concept to primary school children. It is bad form to put one's self first in any situation. Not a bad precept.
