"Les vaches, dont les fermiers observent les bébés, se reposent dans le pré." Who is in the meadow?
Answered! Jump to accepted answer.
Jean
Kwiziq community member
14/01/18
Les vaches are in the meadow. Elles s'y reposent.
"... dont les fermiers observent les bébés" is a phrase describing or giving more information about les vaches. Perhaps the calves are in the field also, but in this sentence it is not explicitly stated (they could be elsewhere like in the barn), and so all one can say for sure is that the cows are there in the field.
Paul
Kwiziq community member
4/06/18
The English translation of this sentence is ambiguous because it can logically be interpreted as "cows including the babies" or "cows excluding the babies." Unless the French is entirely unambiguous, then I recommend changing this question to "who do we know for certain is in the meadow."
Your answer
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Think you've got all the answers?
Test your French to the CEFR standard
find your French level »2944questions6092answers123,404users
stephen
Kwiziq community member
14 January 2018
2 replies
"Les vaches, dont les fermiers observent les bébés, se reposent dans le pré." Who is in the meadow?
The cows, {including} or{ whose} the farmers watch the babies, rest in the meadow. Question "Who is in the meadow?" it could be 1. The cows. or 2. The babies. This is a questionable question.
This relates to:
Dont = Whose -