Hi,

Question

In the examples above, 'j'aime Paris' means 'I lové Paris'. If 'j'aime beaucoup Paris' means 'I like Paris a lot', them how do you say plain old 'I like Paris'?

Accepted Answer

Hi David ,
'Aimer' quelque chose is, 'to like' and 'to love' something .
Your intonation would clarify the intensity of meaning I think.
You could always use the verb 'plaire' and its unusual construction to indicate plain old 'liking  something' -
Paris me plaît.
Have a look at the following lesson if you are not familiar with the verb 'plaire'
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/how-to-use-plaire-to-express-liking-something-someone
Hope this helps!

Answer

With 'things' you need to add an adverb to 'aimer' to convey a higher intensity of feeling:
"J'aime beaucoup Paris" is stronger than for example, 
"j'aime Paris au printemps" ( I like Paris in the Spring)...

Answer

Thank you Cécile.I was a little puzzled, as I answered the multi-choice question as to what 'j'aime beacoup Paris' means with 'I like Paris' (which was marked incorrect, should have been 'I like Paris a lot). Seems I can user 'aimer' to express love or strong liking of Paris, but not a straightforward 'like'.
Regards
David

Answer

Thank you Cécile, that makes sense.

Answer

However today in a quiz I was asked to select multiple possibilitires for "How could you say 'I love sugar'?". I selected both "J'aime le sucre" and "J'adore le sucre". I was marked down because "J'aime le sucre" was only "Nearly" right. Why is that?

This lesson says:

Aimer - to love <someone> / <something>

Used on its own, aimer generally means 'to love' <someone> and 'to love or to like' (depending on intensity) <something>:

J'aime Marie
I love Marie

J'aime Paris
I love Paris

Elle aime sa nouvelle veste.
She loves her new jacket.

In the third example here "sa nouvelle veste" is a thing and in the quiz "le sucre" is a thing so why is "love" appropriate in the first case but not the second?

Answer

Sorry. Please disregard the above. I was tired last night and confused the two columns. I had only offered one choice and Kwiziq was correctly suggesting that there were two valid choices.

Answer

Hi David. As I recall, I believe to say "I like Paris" in french, you could say "J'aime bien Paris" which turns 'love' into 'like'.