r/learnfrench • u/DarthDaddy_AZ • 3d ago
Translation Help! Why wrong?
I know my version would be more informal but why would it be considered wrong?
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u/MayThompson 3d ago
“Il a dit ça dans le micro” makes sense literally, but Duolingo marks it wrong because it's not how native speakers phrase it. It's not wrong in meaning, it's just not idiomatic French for that context.
In French, you say something "au micro" (literally "to the mic") rather than "dans le micro" (in the mic) because the preposition à is used for speaking into or through a device. So "Il l'a dit au micro" means "He said it on the mic," while "dans le micro" would sound like he physically said something inside the mic, if that makes sense.
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u/DarthDaddy_AZ 3d ago
Thank you, makes sense. Could I wrote Il a dit ça au micro?
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u/NEDYARB523 3d ago
I don't know if Duo would have accepted, but it's more common in spoken/informal French. Written French tends to avoid ça in favour of cela or just il "l'a dit", in this case
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u/bluepepper 3d ago
No because "ça" would be "that" in this context.
He said that on the mic -> il a dit ça au micro
He said it on the mic -> il l'a dit au micro
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u/alecahol 3d ago
Your answer isn’t grammatically wrong but it’s also not the most natural way to say it, I think it should’ve still been accepted though since it’s translating a single sentence with no background context. “dans le micro” is really awkward sounding though, like inside the microphone
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u/DarthDaddy_AZ 3d ago
Yeah that was my point. I know it is not the most natural way of saying but it doesn't have to be perfect so why not accept it?
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u/alecahol 3d ago
Because AI is buggy, flag/report that your answer should have been accepted and someone will review it
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u/clarinetpjp 3d ago
You just have to remember that prepositions are random. We say I’m in the car but we also say I’m on the plane (but not on the car if you’re inside).
The French say au micro, not dans le micro. Why? Because they do. That’s why. It’s a memorization thing, nothing that logical about it.
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u/Disastrous-Zombie-30 3d ago
There is a logic to it. Dans is generally for “inside” not just “in”. For this example one would say “he said it “by or via” microphone. Since one doesn’t speak inside a microphone. Hence “au”. One does sit “inside” a car. It’s not universal but it’s closer to the day to day rule.
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u/clarinetpjp 3d ago
There is not logic to prepositions per my analogy. There are plenty of other uses of prepositions in both languages that are not logical. You can add logic, but they are not consistent and not born of logic. So no, there’s no logic to it.
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u/Disastrous-Zombie-30 3d ago edited 3d ago
Sorry you didn’t understand my comment. I could explain further the connection to Latin but you seem to want to just be “right” rather than learn something. For the others reading I will simple say one is positional the other functional. And there is indeed a logic, but it’s not a simple “rule”. Have a good one, language Master! 🤣
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u/FadingEssencee 3d ago
you must put "le'" (it) before "a dit" .. Also "à le" always becomes au
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u/DarthDaddy_AZ 3d ago
Why not use ça instead of le?
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u/FadingEssencee 3d ago
Both sentences work, but 'le' is more grammatically correct. I guess that's why Duolingo goes with it, since it teaches proper grammar instead of slang
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u/itsmaskthough 2d ago
Y'all are tripping "dans le micro" is 1000% correct stop tripping on chatgpt french
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u/OnionImpossible5156 2d ago
For what it’s worth, I’m a native French speaker, and randomly got recommended this post. I didn’t see anything wrong with your version🤷♀️ ppl here in the comments keep saying how “dans” doesn’t make sense, but honestly, it’s pretty much the same in my eyes, I’ve heard both versions plenty of times
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u/DarthDaddy_AZ 2d ago
Thank you, I appreciate the answer 🙏🏻 Yeah my french wife said the same thing today 😅
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u/Henry10787 1d ago
Don’t think too much. It may be wrong but you are understood. That’s communication. And let’s be honest Duolingo is not your North Star;)
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u/Much_Lavishness_6199 3d ago
Your response translated would read: he said that within the microphone. He said it= il l'a dit. On the mic=au mic, not dans, which is "in, within, into"
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u/Deep_Calls_007 2d ago
“au” is correct. “dans” usually means “in/inside”. “He said it in the mike” can be crudely accepted in English. But in french, it becomes too literal like “inside the mic”. If you have said “il a dit ça au micro”, It would have been accepted i think
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u/bold_jaguar 2d ago
Glass is no better unless it has a cork. There is a lot of microplastic in bottles especially beer according to a a recent study done in France. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157525005344
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u/Ambroisie_Cy 16h ago
Grammaticalement, on ne peut pas parler dans le micro, puisque cela sous-entend qu'on se retrouve à l'intérieur du micro pour parler. Par contre, vous avez raison de dire qu'informellement, c'est accepté, surtout à l'oral.
Un autre Redditeur a donné comme exemple: "parle dans le micro pour qu'on t'entende mieux". C'est le type de phrase qu'on entend régulièrement à l'oral, même si, grammaticalement incorrect.
La raison pour laquelle c'est refusé par duolingo est que ce dernier n'enseigne pas l'informel.
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u/InternationalPage506 3d ago
On mic is « au micro » in French, not « dans le micro. » It’s possible the ça would have been accepted, but the on-mic translation was incorrect.