les/ses

Question

"François reste dehors, ________ chaussures couvertes de boue."I still don't understand why "les" is the answer but not "ses". Please explain, thanks!

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Manda,
In this sentence, you will use 'les' instead of 'ses' as it is referring to an item of clothing (shoes) and because there are no ambiguity as to whom the shoes belong to.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Céline Pickard · Answer

Bonjour Wanda,
In French, using "les" in the following sentence - "François reste dehors, ________ chaussures couvertes de boue."- is not ambiguous because, as a Native French speaker, you instinctively assume that the shoes belong to the person who you've just mentioned, in this case "François".
However, if the sentence was "François reste dehors, les chaussures sont sales" (if there's a verb), then it would be ambiguous because you would not know the shoes come from ; therefore, who they belong to.
However, you can use possessive adjectives in specific circumstances (mes chaussures sont sales = my shoes are dirty), which is explained in the following lesson : https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/special-cases-when-you-can-use-mon-ma-mes-etc-with-parts-of-the-body-possessive-adjectives
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Wanda Austinpeters · Answer

How do we know that he was not carrying in dirty shoes that were expected to be clean.

How would one say, "He came in, the shoes were dirty.", not meaning HIS shoes?

There IS ambiguity as to whose shoes they belong to.