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- Topic: French >
- "The person reads the newspap…
"The person reads the newspaper."
Translation:La personne lit le journal.
9 Comments
Why don't you allow the student a second chance if they only make one simple mistake? It could be counted as a lesser grade instead of a complete mistake. This trial and error is very discouraging.
That sounds like something you could post using the Feedback button on the left. Personally, I don't find it discouraging, and I can't really see much point in watering down the message that I've mistranslated a phrase, which is, after all, how we learn to do it correctly. I'm not sure, but I think that if you don't translate something properly it gets re-presented to you as you practise more exercises, so in that sense you get second and third chances. In fact, you probably keep getting chances until you input a correct translation. Since each phrase makes up only part of any exercise, you get a "lesser grade" by getting some wrong. I hope you feel encouraged after more practise. :)
You are right about the feedback box, treehouse. I use it a lot. I'm sure that they get tired of hearing from me. Sometimes I just have to vent. I'm glad to hear that it does not discourage you. I made B's in this language in college, but it is much harder to study this way. Thanks for your time.
If the person referred to is male, does it stay "la personne"...or would you just not use it and say "l'homme" instead?
"une personne" is "a person", be it a man or a woman, an individual whose sex is not specified.
Therefore, even if the person happens to be a man, you will handle the word "personne" with all feminine attributes (article, adjectives, past participle) : "une personne inconnue est venue".
The stranger, the foreigner, etc, - you have no idea with these English words whether the person is male or female. This seems more unusual in English than in French,- to have no initial clue to their gender. Or am I just noticing it more?
