"Elle écrit un livre."
Translation:She is writing a book.
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740
Oh this is contusing. The elle is feminine, yes? Yet we still refer to the book as un? I wrote une? I do not understand why we have to adjust the un?
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Because "un" refers to the book, and "elle" refers to the reader. Different nouns, different genders, and articles and adjectives match the gender and number of the noun they go together with.
Please let me quote what Laura says in about.com (this page: http://french.about.com/od/mistakes/a/beginning.htm)
"French accents indicate the correct pronunciation of a word, and are required, not optional. Therefore, you need to make an effort to learn what they mean, which words they are found in, and how to type them. "
Bon courage!
Something is VERY WRONG with Duolingo! Duolingo is accepting two possibles answers: Present continuous and Present simple. It's not just in this exercise, but the majority. "I'm drinking coffee" and "I drink coffee" don't have the same meaning! "I'm drinking coffee" means I'm drinking coffee right now... maybe it's the first time in my life drinking coffee. When I say to somebody "I drink coffee" it means that I've got a habit, I drink frequently.
So, what does "Elle écrit un livre" means? I started the action , but I didn't finish yet. Or it means that I regularly write books, like one per year or one book per month. Which one is correct? Thank you for your help!
"I'm drinking coffee" and "I drink coffee" don't have the same meaning but they have the same translation. French does not have continuous tenses.
In context, it is not difficult to distinguish an action in progress from a habit and this is why the French are not confused with their single present tense.
"Elle écrit un livre" is too short to determine what the context is but with "every year/chaque année" or "currently/en ce moment" you would know.
Since the context is not clear with this short sentence, both translations are accepted: "she writes" and "she is writing".
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Why is it j'ecris but not Il/ Elle ecris? Usually it is the same for Il/ Elle, but different for Tu.