Quick question about french syntax here

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

In these examples why is ‘Ils sont....’ wrong?

They are going to Brazil
Ils (they) sont (are) allez (aller? Going) au Bresil

Im told the right answer is Ils vont au bresil.

What happened to the ‘are’ element? How do you differentiate between ‘they are going’ and ‘they go’? What is the difference between vont and aller?

Same thing in other examples:
Elles sont voyagent avec Alice ✖️
Elle sont voyage ✖️

Thanks! It’s the Duolingo app and you can’t comment/ask questions on the app.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

.

[Ihatesandwiches]

In French there is no am/is/are verb -ing tense. They are both covered by the simple present. Context let's you know which I'd the case in English

[Ihatesandwiches]

So elles voyagent could mean they are travelling or they travel.

[AnotherEmma]

In French (and many other languages) "I am going" and "I go" are said the same way: "je vais".

If you want to really emphasise the fact that you are in the process of doing something, you can say "je suis en train de faire" but this is not used frequently and would not be used in the context of what you're trying to say.

[Emmapeeler]

“Vont” is the part of “aller” which goes with ils (they).

“Allez” would be the part of “aller” which goes with “vous” (you plural).

Aller:
Je vais, tu vas, il va, elle va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont

And yes they don’t way “are” in the same way we do they just use the necessary part of verb so je vais = either I go or I am going.

(Disclaimer: my mediocre French degree was a long time ago!)

[dbrep15]

I would say ils iront (futur simple). Ils vont is present tense so forget about the are bit. Try not to translate word-for-word (always a tricky thing to do with french) but if you do it means we are going NOW and I think you might be talking about going to Brasil in the future. hth

I would recommend getting a copy of 'bescherelle la conjugaison' - used by all french school children.

[AnotherEmma]

Duolingo did give the correct answer (as you would expect/hope!)

It's "ils vont au Brésil" which means "they are going to Brazil". (When you say it in English, they don't have to be going right this second - you can be talking about the near future - and it's the same in French.)

"Ils iront au Brésil" means "they will go to Brazil" which is less common in everyday speech and to be honest you'd be more likely to say "ils vont aller au Brésil" which means "they are going to go to Brazil" - but that's clunky in both French and English.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Ahaaaa, they don’t have an ‘-ing’ tense!! Bingo! Thanks all!

I really should learn tenses in English too, I couldn’t tell you what perfect tense is. I sometimes have to think about third vs first I must have been ill when they taught that at primary school haha 😄

Thanks for the help and i’ll look up that book! Loving learning french so far!

[AnotherEmma]

I don't know as much about English grammar as I do about French grammar, I guess your native language is learned automatically without thinking about grammar, whereas you study others.

But...

First person = I
Second person = you
Third person = he / she / they

As for tenses, obviously there's past / present / future but I can't remember the various names for the various different ones, I'd definitely have to look them up in a text book or Google them!

[Emmapeeler]

Schaum’s French grammar is good too. It has exercises. I worked my way through it at uni and got on well with it.

[Emmapeeler]

I am also pretty poor at English grammar. I don’t remember being taught it!

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

So now I’m wondering when/if you’d ever use ils sont?

I believe in a previous section there were things like ‘ils sont contents’. Rather than ‘ils contents’?

[Emmapeeler]

You don’t use it with a verb (ie are going) but you can use it with an adjective. So you can say ils sont contents. Happy is an adjective (I had to look that up to check it wasn’t an adverb - see? ).

You also use the verb aller to form a past tense but I don’t want to confuse you!

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Haha no i’ll wait til I get to the past tense level on my app to be confused about that 😄 ohhhh gosh I hope I persevere!

[AnotherEmma]

when/if you’d ever use ils sont?

"Ils sont" means "they are", it's from the verb "être" ("to be").
Je suis = I am
Tu es = you are
Il/Elle est = He/She is
Nous sommes = We are
Vous êtes = you (plural/formal) are
Ils sont = they are

You would use it in many contexts.

Ils sont anglais = they are English
Ils sont jeunes = they are young
Ils sont heureux = they are happy
Ils sont dehors = they are outside

etc

[Lillagroda]

Yes, no progressive tenses (-ing) in French. I think we’ve enough tenses as it is really...

I remember I was taught the difference between simple (they go) and progressive present (they are going) by being taught lots of adverbs at the same time. Always, often, usually. Now, soon, tomorrow. Progressive = currently happening, or very soon; simple = frequently or regularly happens. Obviously it isn’t always that simple but that was after about two days of English lessons when I was 10, so good enough at the time.

They’re going to Brazil soon -> ils vont bientôt au Brésil; ils iront bientôt au Brésil isn’t wrong though, but it’s a bit less every day-ish.
They go to Brazil often - > ils vont souvent au Brésil

Anyway, all that to say, confusing for the French learning English too.

[AnotherEmma]

You also use the verb aller to form a past tense but I don’t want to confuse you!

Eh?!

[Emmapeeler]

You also use the verb aller to form a past tense but I don’t want to confuse you!

Yes sorry, please ignore that statement It’s been a long day!

[Shopgirl1]

Never translate word for word, it often doesn’t work.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Also why would it be

Une chambre double (a double bedroom)

But

Une grande television (a big tv)?

Not sure I’ve got the fem/masc right there but I got both wrong because I used the wrong word order.

[Emmapeeler]

In case I tell you wrong again!

This page explains well why some adjectives go before despite that most go afterwards.

www.dummies.com/languages/french/how-to-place-of-french-adjectives-correctly/

[AnotherEmma]

Some adjectives go before the noun and some go after. Just to keep us on our toes