I know this has been asked before, but I'm having trouble determining when to use definite articles when talking about things in general. The two examples in the lesson seem to contradict each other:

Je n'aime ni le fromage ni le lait.

Il ne veut ni vin ni eau.

Why is is "le fromage/le lait" in the first example, and simply "vin/eau" in the second one? According to the English translations for each, both sentences seem to refer to the items in general.

Thanks!

Asked 7 years ago

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Sylvia E.A0Kwiziq community member

Je viens de Nigeriane

Asked 9 years ago

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Mark P.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Saviez vous? ?Correct tense

"Mais saviez vous que..."

I am a bit confused here.. why saviez and not savez? In English we often say "did you.." but that is a quirk and actually means "do you?" and it is heard as present tense. I see saviez as "did you use to know".. implying that you might have forgotten.. This is clearly an active question and I thought that French was more particular than that on its use of tenses.

Asked 5 years ago

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Habiba D.A1Kwiziq community member

For feminine nouns like lait. You use de la? Does this mean that Je veux de la lait is correct.

Asked 8 years ago

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Hannah R.A1Kwiziq community member

Penser à or de

I'm confused when to use penser à and when to use penser de, and why you would say "la fille à laquelle je pense" instead of "la fille dont je pense"

Asked 7 years ago

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Herb C.C1Kwiziq community member

Près and Proche

I have not seen this one addressed elsewhere, so I will post it and see if there is any advice. In all the exercises so far, "près de" is used. I am in Quebec and have been using "proche de", which seems to be commonly used.

So - the question: is there some subtle differences in the use of "près" or "proche" which I should learn?

Asked 4 years ago

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Ruth G.B1Kwiziq community member

Why “je vous le donne” but “je le lui donne”

Is there a reason why we say “je vous le donne” but “je le lui donne”?

Asked 6 years ago

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