Les/des
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Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Les/des
In a B1 question, "They collect antique cars" was translated as "Ils collectionnent les voitures anciennes". Why not "des voitures"?
Asked 7 years ago
Bonjour Joakim !
Aaaah l'éternelle question ;)
Here we're talking about a general category of collected items: I collect stamps...
If you said "Je collectionne des voitures anciennes", it would reduce the scope of items you're collecting = I collect some antique cars.
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
Aaaah l'éternelle question ;)
Here we're talking about a general category of collected items: I collect stamps...
If you said "Je collectionne des voitures anciennes", it would reduce the scope of items you're collecting = I collect some antique cars.
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
Bonjour Joakim !
In the case of collection, you will use the more encompassing les, because collectors' purpose is never to collect just "some" of the items :)
In general, the definite article will be less restrictive than the partitive, in that it refers to a whole category in a general manner:
J'aime le chocolat.
I love chocolate. -> the general category known as chocolate, comprising all subcategories of it
Je mange du chocolat.
I eat [some] chocolate. -> not all the chocolate that exists, but a restricted part of it!
I hope that's a bit clearer :)
Bonne journée !
In the case of collection, you will use the more encompassing les, because collectors' purpose is never to collect just "some" of the items :)
In general, the definite article will be less restrictive than the partitive, in that it refers to a whole category in a general manner:
J'aime le chocolat.
I love chocolate. -> the general category known as chocolate, comprising all subcategories of it
Je mange du chocolat.
I eat [some] chocolate. -> not all the chocolate that exists, but a restricted part of it!
I hope that's a bit clearer :)
Bonne journée !
Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
I think it is hard to understand the distinction because one can obviously only collect *some* cars no matter how you express it.
Joakim R. asked:
Les/des
In a B1 question, "They collect antique cars" was translated as "Ils collectionnent les voitures anciennes". Why not "des voitures"?
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