What is the difference between sont and sommes in french

I just did the flashcards and they had sommes translated as "sums". At least I knew enough to know that was wrong! Well, as a noun, sommes is the plural of somme , which is the French word for sum , so the flashcard is technically correct unless it said it was a verb.

I'm on the Basics lesson so I'm pretty sure my correct answer should've been the verb. They also had "est" as east and directions haven't been introduced yet. Good to know the flashcards aren't just randomly wrong though! Because les pommes is a third person plural subject. Could you replace "the apples" by "they" the apples, they are red? Then you should use sont. With "they are" translated to either "elles sont" or "ils sont"- how do you know which one to use if you are referring to a group of men and women?

For example if you are referring to a group of people they but some are men and some are women. Do you use the masculine or feminine words 'ils' or 'elles' Apologies if it's a silly question. I am a beginner. Thank you for explaining so clearly and writing in laymen terms, for some of us that are not great on grammar. I totally understood that, and gave you a lingot! Frankly, in my online lesson son't and sommes are used similarly, and not with ils nor elles, so it's baffling each time I am asked to translate.

If I chose sommes because I think it's plural, I am wrong, then for a similar sentence if I use sont, I am wrong, so now I just guess. Get started. French tips: what is the difference between "sont" and "sommes"? March 12, BastouXII Plus. March 14, March 15, Yes, they're good, thanks, I will add them in the links.

March 13, MargLam3 Plus September 14, I can't understand why people struggle with this. Its so easy. Amy July 24, Please see my comments for you above. Very good suggestion! I will add a part explaning when to use "they".

May 8, August 9, September 3, November 17, Unfortunately, flashcards are not a very good tool when dealing with homographs or polysemy January 17, March 18, September 7, November 2, So why did a duo lingo lesson use les pommes sont rouge? I'm a bit confused.. November 26, January 5, July 19, July 28, The above does not explain why " the dresses are red" means " les robes sont rouges" does it mean except for vous and nous , all other plurals ; sont is used?

March 24, April 4, Nous sommes! Got it! May 9, October 30, Didn't someone already answer this question? Ok Gnite. December 9, Thank you - I just need to commit the two to memory , instead to measuring around English. September 28, Related Discussions The striking difference between the French and normal forums. Learn French in just 5 minutes a day. French Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the French language.

It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I'd like to know which ones I need to use. The verbs in French are much more complicated to conjugate than in English. They change according to the subject, and the tense and modes are more numerous. Sites like leconjugueur gives you all the forms of a verb according to person, time and tense. When at school, I commonly used the Bescherelle , which is still a reference book for conjugation.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Difference between "sommes", "sont" and "es" Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 2 months ago.

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