- Forum >
- Topic: French >
- "Tu manges du pain."
40 Comments
Copy and pasting from another one of my comments:
You have to remember to conjugate your verbs. This is something that Duolingo doesn't teach you.
je mange tu mange il mange elle mange nous mangeons vous mangez ils mangent elles mangent
*ils = all males or mix of male & femaile. elles = all female.
http://french.about.com/library/verb/bl-verbconjugator.htm There are some basic rules you can follow (try searching french conjugation rules) but they don't necessarily apply to all verbs and you really just have to learn them all. Hope this helps.
there is conjugation for each verb. When you get a new verb, hover your mouse over it and you can see the option "conjugate" to click on and get a conjugation table.
Manger = to eat (1st group verb)---> 's' at the end of the verb is only added to 'Tu'
Je mange Tu manges Il mange Elle mange Nous mangeons (don't forget the (e) between 'g' and 'o') Vous mangez ils mangent elles mangent
There you go, mange and manges are only used for singular pronouns which are (je,tu,il, elle). While mange is used for (je,il,elle), "manges" is only used for (Tu) which means you (one person, singular you) Good luck :)
in records i keep mistaking je for tu...is it on duolingo's pronunciation or it is real french?
What is the rule for "du"? A previous question asked "elle mange une pomme" yet this one is "Tu manges du pain".
1560
"du" is an partitive article, and is a contraction of "de + le".
It can be translated into:
"Tu manges du pain" :
-
"You are eating bread" (No article in English)
-
"You are eating some bread"
-
"You are eating some of the bread" (as: "part of the")
It differs from the definite article "le":
"Tu manges le pain." = "You eat the bread."
so you are saying if you ate only some of the apple it would be Tu manges du pomme?
- 1560
Here, the sentence is about "bread" ("pain", not "pomme").
You are right in the sense that if you eat some of the bread, you have to say "Tu manges du pain". (For "pomme" it would be "Tu manges de la pomme.")
If you eat the whole bread, you have to say "tu manges le pain." (For "pomme", it would be: "Tu manges la pomme".)
- 1560
Bonjour ntoetd,
You are right in this case, where "du" is a partitive article, and means "some" or "some of the" (in English, this concept often translate without using an article).
- "Tu manges du pain" means "You are eating (some) bread".
But FYI, "du" can also be:
-
a preposition ("Je viens du cinéma." means "I come from the cinema")
-
a definite article ("Je parle du garçon." means "I am talking about the boy")
For more details, please have a look at the links below:
Thanks, Remy. I understand that the following are used when there is an absent article or the implication of "some." Can you help me fill in the blank in the summary below?
du (before masculine words) de la (before feminine words) de l' (before ____ words with liaison)
- 1560
You have to use "de l'" before words:
- starting with a vowel (ex: "de l'eau" means "(some) water"), or
- starting with a mute "h" (ex: "de l'hémoglobine" means "(some) haemoglobin").
Note: for words that start with an "aspirate" h, you have to use "du" or "de la".
- "du hachis" means "(some) ground meat"
- "de la houille" means "(some) coal"
yes, it is wrong.
some common usage of "from": from here to there..., from earth to moon..., i can go alone from here..., speaking from my heart...
yes. "Tu" is "you", "manges" is the present indicative for "to eat" so it's "eat" or "are eating" and "du" is literally "of the", or in good english "some" so the right answer is "You are eating bread", "you are eating some bread" or "you eat bread".
'......some bread' is not just one bread, right ? why i answered '.......some breads' i get wrong ?
- 1560
"bread" is a mass noun, which means that it designates "a noun denoting something that normally cannot be counted but that may be countable when it refers to different units or types, e.g. bread, sugar, coffee..."
This also means that this word usually comes without an article before, or is preceded by "some".
For example:
- You eat bread = Tu manges du pain. (in French, we use an indefinite article "du" (masc. sing.), or "de la" (fem. sing), des (masc/fem. plural)
- You drink (some) = Tu bois du café.
If you want to talk about one "loaf of bread", you would use a definite article say:
- You eat the (loaf of) bread = Tu manges le pain.
You answer "You eat somes breads" is wrong because it would translate to:
- Tu manges des pains.
- Tu manges différents types de pains.
- 1560
Please have a look at my comments above.
"You eat the bread" translates to "Tu manges le pain". (for example, a specific loaf of bread, whereas "du pain" means "bread" in general)
ok, this is confusing. Before I was struggling with the usage of "de" and now we also have "du" that also means "some"? how do I know when to use "de" and "du"? thanks.
jesus christ !!! to listen in french " un" and "du" It is almost the same, i am stuck at the same level, repeating and repeating over and over again !!!!
