Why is "de" necessary in, "Les plantes produisent de l'oxygène?"

Susan C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why is "de" necessary in, "Les plantes produisent de l'oxygène?"

Asked 7 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer
Bonjour Susan !

In this sentence, it's because we're considering that oxygen is not a countable thing (i.e. "Plants produce some oxygen."), therefore you need to use the partitive article, i.e. de l' .
However, I agree that in this case, plants produce oxygen in general, therefore it would be more accurate to say : "Les plantes produisent l'oxygène.".
Thanks to you, I edited the example.

Merci et à bientôt !
Susan C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Bonjour Aurélie! Thank you for your very thorough answer. À bientôt! s.

Why is "de" necessary in, "Les plantes produisent de l'oxygène?"

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
Getting that for you now...