Les jumelles

Question

Before the exercise I put the vocab given into Google Translate if I don't know them. I didn't know "des jumelles" and it comes back "binoculars." Larousse also says that les jumelles are an optical instrument. However, since that made no sense, I put the whole phrase into Google Translate and it came back "the twins are twelve" -- which of course makes sense. But for a beginner it was very confusing not to find the definition of "twins" for this word I didn't know. Is it colloquial for jumelles to mean twins?

BTW, I look forward to the dictees every week. Keep them coming!

Answer

Bonjour Stuart !I'm really surprised that "jumelles" didn't also come up as "twins" straight away, as it is indeed very common, the masculine form being "des jumeaux".If I may, I'd recommend not to use Google Translate as it is not a complete dictionary, and can occasionally miss quite obvious meanings ;)I personally tend to use Reverso online :)Bonne journée !

Answer

Le Jumeau -- found the singular.  Based on the problem I had finding the right word, I would suggest giving a hint that includes the singular and plural of this word.

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Bonjour Stuart !I agree that giving the plural in the vocabulary list could lead to confusion :)I've now updated it to say "un jumeau/une jumelle"Bonne journée !

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Thank you -- that is helpful.

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What do you recommend for looking up.  Why not just supply the translations as it is busy work.

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Collins dictionary also translated to binoculars.