Using le, la, les, du, de la, de, des

Kim A.A2Kwiziq community member

Using le, la, les, du, de la, de, des

I've read through the relevant lessons, but I'm still not clear on a few points: If want to say "He likes cheese" do I say "Il aime le fromage" ? What about the negative: "He doesn't like cheese" is it "Il n'aime pas le fromage" ? Why is "I adore cucumbers" "J'adore les concombres" but "I eat apples" "je mange des pommes" ? What about with "avoir peur" is it "il a peur des chiens" ? In the negative would it be "il n'a pas peur de chien". ?
Asked 6 years ago
Ron T.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Bonsoir Kim,

The following articles are partitive: de, du, de la, and des while these are definite articles: le, la, l' and les.
In this phrase:
On n'aime pas la musique classique. --> We dont like classical music. (we don't like any classical music)

Elle n'aime pas les bonbons. --> She doesn't like sweets. (she doesn't like any sweets)

So here is another example from a lesson:
When things are countable (dogs, cars etc.) and you want to say some, you use des.
Il y a des chiens. --> There are some dogs. or There are dogs.

AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Kim !

The difference is whether you're making a general statement or talking about "some" specific things.
Il aime le fromage is a statement about cheese in general, so you will use "le"
See https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/use-le-la-l-or-les-before-nouns-when-generalising-definite-articles

In a negative sentence, le, la, l', les remain the same:
Il n'aime pas le fromage.

When you say J'adore les concombres, you're talking about cucumbers in general - you couldn't say "I love some cucumbers" here, hence the use of les.

As for "avoir peur", it's a fixed expression always followed by the preposition de (literally to have fear of), so when used with the definite article les, de + les contract into des :
Il a peur des chiens. => He's scared of (the) dogs. 
See https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/avoir-peur-de-to-be-afraid-or-scared-of

In the negative, as we said above, les remains the same, so it applies to its contracted form as well:
Il n'a pas peur des chiens. 

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Using le, la, les, du, de la, de, des

I've read through the relevant lessons, but I'm still not clear on a few points: If want to say "He likes cheese" do I say "Il aime le fromage" ? What about the negative: "He doesn't like cheese" is it "Il n'aime pas le fromage" ? Why is "I adore cucumbers" "J'adore les concombres" but "I eat apples" "je mange des pommes" ? What about with "avoir peur" is it "il a peur des chiens" ? In the negative would it be "il n'a pas peur de chien". ?

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