Today’s lesson brought up what I’d seen in the past in a few lessons here and there.
Let me show you this sentence in kreyòl:
L ap akompli li.
Based on what I’ve learned, the word for “he,” “she,” and “it” is “li.” Sometimes (well, to be honest, probably 98% of the time!) the “li” is shortened to just “l” when followed by a vowel sound, such as the word “ap,” which turns the verb “akompli” (accomplish) into the participle form “accomplishing.”
And it’s not a perfect 1:1 ratio. Sometimes it looks like it can’t be shortened, and I am not certain of the rules. I do know that the Duolingo lessons are in beta. I think some of the derivations of when to use “li” and when to use “l” are confused in the later sessions where we see a sentence in English and must translate it back to kreyòl, and the way it is in the database is in context with what we heard many lessons previously. This means that to see a sentence in kreyòl such as “mwen renmen diri li” (I like her rice) might be said as “Mwen renmen diri l” for us to hear and then write.
But then later, if we see the English “I like her rice,” we have to remember that the “right” way is with the “l” and not the “li,” else we are marked as wrong, because the database has it as “l” and not “li,” even though it would be okay to use the long form. Just not usual.
And let me not go into the many, many times that the narrators just about swallowed the pronoun/adjective so I am marked wrong even after listening a few times. (“Mwen viv ak papa m” has a barely discernable “m” at the end there, short for “mwen” to make it “my,” and I missed it the first time even after a few repeats.)
Anyway…
In 99% of the cases, I’d expect the word “li” to just be first person singular “he,” “she,” or “it.” “L ap akompli li” should be “he/she it is accomplishing it.” (Don’t ask me if this is a typical sentence used in your visits to Pòtaprens—we have sentences such as “Wonma a ekri lèt yo pou krab yo” for “The lobter writes the letters for the crabs,” and I’m sure they don’t have such lobsters in Ayiti.)
Every so often, Duolingo throws the kreyòl at us like this (L ap akompli li) and we somehow have to know that the first “li” is the singular “they.” Which is fine! English allows this!
The thing is, just seeing the words on the screen with no context means that the usual, expected translation of “li” as the common pronouns is marked wrong. “Oh, you know, sometimes you can use ‘they,’” says Duolingo. And I get it! But really, I have no way of knowing this from the context, and so marking it wrong when it could be any of the common singular pronouns as well as first-person plural is really . . . unfair.
Because I have no way of knowing that you wanted me to translate “li” as “they.”
Do better, Duolingo!
Also, for fun—se pa pa li (it’s not yours) would be the same sound as se papa li (it is his dad), so context is king. Which means theoretically you could have a sentence “se pa pa li, se papa li” (it’s not yours; it is his dad), and good luck on hearing that and parsing it!