“Donner mon sang” , ou “donner le sang”?

Question

In the writing exercise, the author gives blood every Saturday. I used “je donne le sang”, but the only correct answer was “je donne mon sang”. I am used to thinking about always using the definite article for parts of the body. Why would this not apply in this situation?

Thank you!

Accepted Answer

Hi Cornelia, 
The answers given for -
 I give my blood 
is indeed

Je donne mon sang 
or 
Je fais don de mon sang

You could at a pinch say -
Je donne du sang = I give ( some) blood
You could argue that blood is not a part of the body like an arm, an ear, or a leg and is not a definite quantity so unless you are talking about a particular quantity of blood that you have collected (not necessarily yours) as a nurse maybe, and you give it to someone else then 'le sang' would be ok.
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

Thank you very much. When you put it that way it makes perfect sense.

Answer

Just a note, we always say “I give/am giving/gave blood”. The “my” in “I gave my blood” is never used in English in my experience.