"Les vaches, dont les fermiers observent les bébés, se reposent dans le pré." Who is in the meadow?
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
StephenKwiziq community member
"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 question relates to:French lesson "Dont = Whose"
Asked 2 years ago
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.
PaulKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
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."
LizKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
I, too, translated this as dont meaning including the farmers and calves. They were all in the field! Too ambiguous since dont can be translated two ways. If not, why not. I doubt I’ll be using this phrase in Paris but you never know! Merci.
Stephen asked:View original
"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.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level >>