Look at these general statements:
Il déteste le café.
He hates coffee.
La vie est compliquée.
Life is complicated.
ATTENTION:
Elle aime le chocolat!
She loves chocolat!
Le vin blanc me donne des maux de tête.
White wine gives me headaches.
J'adore les toiles d'araignées
I love spider webs!
On n'aime pas la musique classique.
We dont like classical music.
Les plantes produisent l’oxygène.
Plants produce oxygen.
Il déteste l'alcool.
He hates alcohol.
Il déteste le café.
He hates coffee.
Ils cherchent le bonheur.
They seek happiness.
La vie est compliquée.
Life is complicated.
J'adore les concombres!
I love cucumbers!
Elle n'aime pas les bonbons.
She doesn't like sweets.
J'adore la France!
I love France!
La nourriture est chère.
Food is expensive.
Following on from the answer below; how do you then say "I like THE carrots" (i.e. the carrots I have on my plate right now)?
To say, 'I like carrots', you have to use the definite article, les and say -
J'aime les carottes
It sort of indicates in French that you like all the carrots in the world. very strange!
Des is a partitive article meaning 'some' so you might say -
Je voudrais des carottes, s'il vous plait = I'd like some carrots, please
or
Donnez-moi des carottes = Give me some carrots
Hi Bo,
You would have to say pointing at them -
J'aime ces carottes (-ci) = I like these carrots
J'aime ces carottes (-là) = I like those carrots
J'aime les carottes is a general statement that you like all carrots!
Hope this helps!
Following on from the answer below; how do you then say "I like THE carrots" (i.e. the carrots I have on my plate right now)?
To say, 'I like carrots', you have to use the definite article, les and say -
J'aime les carottes
It sort of indicates in French that you like all the carrots in the world. very strange!
Des is a partitive article meaning 'some' so you might say -
Je voudrais des carottes, s'il vous plait = I'd like some carrots, please
or
Donnez-moi des carottes = Give me some carrots
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For example if you were to say 'I like carrots', can't you say j'aime des carottes as well as j'aime les carottes ?
Or do they mean different things?
Hi Vanessa,
To say, 'I like carrots', you have to use the definite article, les and say -
J'aime les carottes
It sort of indicates in French that you like all the carrots in the world. very strange!
Des is a partitive article meaning 'some' so you might say -
Je voudrais des carottes, s'il vous plait = I'd like some carrots, please
or
Donnez-moi des carottes = Give me some carrots
Hope this helps!
For example if you were to say 'I like carrots', can't you say j'aime des carottes as well as j'aime les carottes ?
Or do they mean different things?
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There seems to be some kind of error associated with the text input for Studyplan questions based on this lesson.
Here is the question:
"_________ des légumes." (Carrots are vegetables.)
HINT: "carottes"
[End of question]
I type the following reasonable answer:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On my screen, as soon as I type the thirteenth "x", the first "x" is slightly truncated at the left. (The remainder of the question is pushed to the right, which is expected behaviour.)
If I arrow left to completely expose the first "x", the final "x" then becomes partially truncated at the right. Adding further x's are correctly expanding the text box, but either the initial character or the final character are partially truncated.
If I adjust the screen font size using Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, the truncation persists.
Additional question: Why are there quotes round some of the questions (see my example above, with the final quotes after "légumes").
On the specific Studyplan test page that I'm currently looking at, 2 questions have quotes and 8 questions have no quotes. Without being condescending, I'm sure the average guy will not notice any difference, but for techies who are trained to look for tiny clues (think "Boeing 337 Max"), these things can be irritating if they are unintentional and random. I spent some time trying to figure out what I was missing.
Thanks.
Hi Alan - this looks like a technical / system question, so I'm replying to you via email about this. Please check your inbox. Thanks!
There seems to be some kind of error associated with the text input for Studyplan questions based on this lesson.
Here is the question:
"_________ des légumes." (Carrots are vegetables.)
HINT: "carottes"
[End of question]
I type the following reasonable answer:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On my screen, as soon as I type the thirteenth "x", the first "x" is slightly truncated at the left. (The remainder of the question is pushed to the right, which is expected behaviour.)
If I arrow left to completely expose the first "x", the final "x" then becomes partially truncated at the right. Adding further x's are correctly expanding the text box, but either the initial character or the final character are partially truncated.
If I adjust the screen font size using Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, the truncation persists.
Additional question: Why are there quotes round some of the questions (see my example above, with the final quotes after "légumes").
On the specific Studyplan test page that I'm currently looking at, 2 questions have quotes and 8 questions have no quotes. Without being condescending, I'm sure the average guy will not notice any difference, but for techies who are trained to look for tiny clues (think "Boeing 337 Max"), these things can be irritating if they are unintentional and random. I spent some time trying to figure out what I was missing.
Thanks.
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or 'elle a les cheveux longs et blond'. I wonder if 2 of the following are correct also?
elle a des cheveux longs et blonds
elle a les longs cheveux blonds
Hi Joan,
I have just answered a couple of questions relating to the writing exercise which (I think)is the one you mention -
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/my-languages/french/exercises/overview/968
The text actually says -
"..with her long blond hair "= "...avec ses longs cheveux blonds"
But if it was -
'She has long blond hair' , the only translation which sounds 'French' to me is -
'Elle a de longs cheveux blonds'
Hope this helps!
or 'elle a les cheveux longs et blond'. I wonder if 2 of the following are correct also?
elle a des cheveux longs et blonds
elle a les longs cheveux blonds
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Hi Sylvia,
You can say either -
'Le chômage est un gros problème'
or
Le chômage, c'est un gros problème
Both meaning,
'Unemployment is a big problem'
Hope this helps!
It's a French style thing. In French you often times repeat the subject.
thx, I just asked because it counts as wrong if you put it this way (with c'est) in the test ;)
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Hi Bruno,
As is said in the lesson -
"In English, we drop the when talking about things in general, but notice that in French, when talking about things in general or abstractly, you must use le, la, l', or les (the definite article). "
So you will say :
J'aime les filles, le chocolat, le football, ....
Hope this is clearer...
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In this case, I refer musique as general thing. Am I correct?
In this case, I refer musique as general thing. Am I correct?
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In this Weekend Workout (5-10-2018) in the 'Californian Dream' level C1 quiz we are asked to translate:
'But what fascinated her the most remained this image of a land both arid and lush, which comprised desert, forests, ocean and mountains,'
Two possible anwers were given (see below) one with articles and the other without articles.
Is this perhaps because the one with articles relates to general things BUT the one without articles relates to specific things (a specific forest, say, rather than forests in general)? Could you please advise/explain.
Answer 1. qui comprenait le désert, les forêts, l'océan et les montagnes,
Answer 2. qui comprenait désert, forêts, océan et montagnes,
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!
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 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?
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!
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 :)
In this Weekend Workout (5-10-2018) in the 'Californian Dream' level C1 quiz we are asked to translate:
'But what fascinated her the most remained this image of a land both arid and lush, which comprised desert, forests, ocean and mountains,'
Two possible anwers were given (see below) one with articles and the other without articles.
Is this perhaps because the one with articles relates to general things BUT the one without articles relates to specific things (a specific forest, say, rather than forests in general)? Could you please advise/explain.
Answer 1. qui comprenait le désert, les forêts, l'océan et les montagnes,
Answer 2. qui comprenait désert, forêts, océan et montagnes,
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It looks like sometimes you use the partitive article 'des' even when referring to general things, for example:
Le vin blanc me donne des maux de tête.
or the following sentence from an exercise: 'J'étudierais un sujet qui me plaît, en rencontrant des gens intéressants
Can someone explain this please?
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!
It looks like sometimes you use the partitive article 'des' even when referring to general things, for example:
Le vin blanc me donne des maux de tête.
or the following sentence from an exercise: 'J'étudierais un sujet qui me plaît, en rencontrant des gens intéressants
Can someone explain this please?
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