Could someone please explain why 'de' is needed in this sentence?

G B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Could someone please explain why 'de' is needed in this sentence?

'J'écoute de la musique' Merci
Asked 6 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Yes ,indeed but that makes it specific, to listen to music would always be écouter de la musique.
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
You can also say "j'écoute la musique" but it means "I am listening to the music", talking about a specific piece of music. Using "de la music", i.e., using the partitive article, it makes it unspecific: "I am listening to (some) music". -- Chris (not a native speaker).
CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
I think this is because of the verb ´écouter' . You have to use the partitive "de la" as you can only listen to some music at any one time. You would say - "J'aime la musique " as it is a general statement about liking music in general. Hope this helps !
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

But I believe you could, for example, say: "Tu as déjà écouté la musique de ce CD que je t'ai prêté?"

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

G B. asked:

Could someone please explain why 'de' is needed in this sentence?

'J'écoute de la musique' Merci

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