Using le, la, l', les before nouns when generalising (definite articles)

Both refer to general things but are stylistically different. You can find traces of this in English as well:

I love forest, sea and sky.
I love the forest, the sea and the sky.

Both versions say the same thing but they have a different "ring" to it.

Input from a native speaker would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Stewart,

It is just a stylistic tool used to recite/declame in literature which you would not find in spoken French.

It made me think of a beautiful Lamartine poem ( French romantic poet) called Le Lac where he  asks time to stand still so that he can savour the moment :

"... ô lac! rochets muets! grottes! forêt obscure 

Vous que le temps épargne ou qu'il peut rajeunir..."

Here is a link to it if you are interested -

https://poesie.webnet.fr/lesgrandsclassiques/poemes/alphonse_de_lamartine/le_lac

Hope this helps!

Hi Cécile (and Chris) Thank you for the response.

Do I understand correctly thay the sentence without the articles would typically be found only in, say, a novel or a poem but the sentence with the articles is the one that should be used in spoken French?

According to A Student Grammar of French by Malcolm Offord, the articles are also often omitted (in lists) in journalism.

Hi Stewart,

Yes, your last comment is correct, the lack of articles is used for lyrical purposes.

In normal speech you will need an article unlike ( sometimes) in English.

Look at the following examples:

If you have time, come and see me = Si vous avez le temps, passez me voir

Or, describing what a person might have going for her -

Elle a beaucoup d'humour, des amis merveilleux, un mari adorable, de beaux enfants = She has humour, wonderful friends, a wonderful husband, beautiful children

Knowing which one to use is more tricky!

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you for your clarification Cécile ... all my confusion has now been removed.

English is actually quite tricky in this respect. Consider this:

If you have time, I'd love to visit.
If you can spare the time, I'd love to visit.

The article is used for some verbs and not for others in English. Try to explain that to someone learning English :)

Hi Madeleine,

Thank you for your very interesting question and I will try and answer it.

In French for generalities you imply that it is almost a fact as in,

'Les enfants aiment le chocolat et les bonbons.'

It is not true of every child but of most of them.

I think you have to use the partitive in the two examples you give because: 

 'white wine clearly give you (some/a) headache'

In the second example 'you will meet (some) interesting people while studying...'

You might say: ' J'aime les gens intéressants'  in that case it is all of the people under that genus.

It is so instinctive it's quite hard to explain...

Hope it helps!

Bonjour Johnny ! Here it's a difference of usage of the noun "un mal" (an ache). In the expression "J'ai mal à la tête.", you're using "mal" without an article, similarly to the expression "avoir pitié de" (to have pity for). You're literally saying "I have ache to the head.". When you're using the expression "des maux de tête" (literally: head aches), you're using the plural of "mal", which is "maux". It's just another way to say "headache" in French. I hope that's helpful !

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 !

Bonjour Aurélie! Thank you for your very thorough answer. À bientôt! s.

he hates the coffee is "il déteste le café". It is the same in this case.