Une demi-baguette ou une moitié d'une?Like many other commenters, I am confused by the the expected answer to this question: "Write 'He ate half a baguette'."
The phrasing is, at best, ambiguous in English. Either 1) he had a half baguette and he ate the whole thing, or 2) he had a whole baguette and ate half of it. Either one is a possible interpretation, and without more context and with this exact English phrase, I would assume case 2.
If indeed case 2 is intended (he ate one half of the whole baguette that he had), could one not say in French, "Il a mangé une moitié d'une baguette."? The lesson has these examples that seem like the same situation and use moitié : J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille and Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.
The lesson also says: "Depending on context, Un/une demi-[nom] can either refer to half a full-sized item (i.e. bucket) or to one of these half-sized items . . . but you use demi- in both cases." That seems to say that demi-baguette would be correct even if he ate half of the full-sized one he had, but I don't understand why une moitié would not also work. What is the difference between the baguette and the bouteille ("J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille ")?
Merci!
The linked article on saints’ days gives "la Sainte-Catherine" as an alternative to "le jour de la Sainte Catherine’ but it’s marked wrong in the exercise.
Also wanted to say I appreciate Maarten’s discourse on "washerwoman" - to my British ears it’s distinctly perjorative and laundress is more neutral.
Great text thanks. Just to let you know there is a red admin message at the start. T
Why is « merci » not accepted as correct? My understanding is les guillemets (double angle brackets «») are the standard quotation marks and double quotes ("") are only used when quoting within a quote, for example, « something "else" ».
Why is this marked wrong?? Constant ends in ant:
Bernard travaille ________.Bernard works constantly.(HINT: French "constant" = English "constant")
This was the correct answer: constamment
My answer was marked incorrect: constammant, but WHY: constant ens in ant = should be constammant ThanksIt seems I'm not the only one struggling with the response option involving t-on, such as "Quand ouvre-t-on les cadeaux?"
Is it possible that this construct is a little too advanced for this lesson at the A1 level (especially because this structure isn't included in the lesson?
All the other questions seemed in line with principal focus of the lesson, but this one response option tied me in knots.
Or maybe that just what being a beginner is all about!
Many thanks again for this excellent platform -
J.
The phrasing is, at best, ambiguous in English. Either 1) he had a half baguette and he ate the whole thing, or 2) he had a whole baguette and ate half of it. Either one is a possible interpretation, and without more context and with this exact English phrase, I would assume case 2.
If indeed case 2 is intended (he ate one half of the whole baguette that he had), could one not say in French, "Il a mangé une moitié d'une baguette."? The lesson has these examples that seem like the same situation and use moitié : J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille and Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.
The lesson also says: "Depending on context, Un/une demi-[nom] can either refer to half a full-sized item (i.e. bucket) or to one of these half-sized items . . . but you use demi- in both cases." That seems to say that demi-baguette would be correct even if he ate half of the full-sized one he had, but I don't understand why une moitié would not also work. What is the difference between the baguette and the bouteille ("J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille ")?
Merci!
This Brussels-area store's yellow sign says "La cour toi sie". Is it even french? The clerk in the store didn't know.
I'm hoping to understand the correct response to the question below
I am confused about the marking system. As an exercise I didn't give myself any marks. I only made, I know a couple of mistakes but QizbIq still gave me five marks out of sixty! I have done the exercise several times and have nearly obtained 100% marking my own work. What is the definitive answer,? Do I mark myself or do you mark me?
Why is the definite article "le" used instead of the indefinite article "un" in the translation for "-It's a perfect symbol for this seaside town." which uses the English indefinite article "a"?
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