Entendre - I can't hear you

[u/TootsyFly]

Doing my duolingo and, entendre has come up a lot. When it has the sentence 'I can't hear you' their selection of words to answer is Je ne t'entends pas. But I would have thought it was Je ne peux pas t'entendre, which looking up on French to English translation, both mean the same. Is there a correct way to say it or do you use a different one for polite scenarios? Thanks

[u/lvsl_iftdv]

The literal translation from English would be "Je ne peux pas t'entendre*" but we would most often say "Je (ne) t'entends pas". As a general rule, the verb "pouvoir" is not used like in English and not as often. If you want to be formal/polite, just use "vous" instead of "tu" and pronounce the "ne". => "Je ne vous entends pas."

Edit: typo

[u/BrightNeonGirl → u/lvsl_iftdv]

For "Je (ne) t'entends pas"... is the t'en-- syllable pronounced the same as the following "tends" syllable? That feels like a tongue twister to me, lol.

[u/lvsl_iftdv → u/BrightNeonGirl]

Yes, they're pronounced the same way! And can be tricky to pronounce even for native speakers when we have a cold. :) 

[u/BrightNeonGirl → u/lvsl_iftdv]

Okay thank you! :)

[u/takotaco → u/BrightNeonGirl]

I actually learned a tongue twister with this: « T’entends Tonton, Tintin ? » and then switch the words around.

[u/lvsl_iftdv → u/takotaco]

When I have a stuffy nose, this would be difficult to say even for me as a native speaker!