Two questions: one word choice, one choice of article

adrienne h.C1Kwiziq community member

Two questions: one word choice, one choice of article

1-  I am unsure of when to use "personnes" and when to use "gens."  I had, "Disons une trentaine de gens."

2-  Why is it "Ma mère adore le fruit de la passion et l'ananas"  with the definite article but "...mais les enfants préféreraient du chocolat"  ?

I thought this was a general opinion and therefore chose the definite article "le" for "chocolat," as well.

Asked 2 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Adrienne,

 

1- In this context (talking about a number of people) you would use "personnes" as it is a countable word whilst "gens" isn't. See the difference between both words here: Les gens versus les personnes

 

2- 'Le' is indeed a correct option here and it is now being added as an option. It isn't unusual to use 'du' in this case as it is preceded by Le Conditionnel Présent.

Je préfèrerais du chocolat = I would prefer (some) chocolate -> "some" / partitive article

Je préfère le chocolat = I prefer chocolate -> general statement (I always do)

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Two questions: one word choice, one choice of article

1-  I am unsure of when to use "personnes" and when to use "gens."  I had, "Disons une trentaine de gens."

2-  Why is it "Ma mère adore le fruit de la passion et l'ananas"  with the definite article but "...mais les enfants préféreraient du chocolat"  ?

I thought this was a general opinion and therefore chose the definite article "le" for "chocolat," as well.

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Clever stuff happening!