We are asked to translate ‘Sprinkle with salt and pepper’.
The two possible answers that are given are:
1, Saupoudrez avec du sel et du poivre
2. Saupoudrez de sel et de poivre
I understand why du is correct as as it is used with ‘uncountable’ nouns which in this case are sel and poivre.
Could you please explain why de sel and de poivre are also correct.
Hi Stewart,
That’s an interesting question...
In fact ‘Saupoudrer de’ is a verb meaning ‘to sprinkle with’ so you might -
Saupoudrer de farine, de sucre glace ( icing sugar) , de sel, de poivre, de paillettes ( glitter)
The emphasis is on the action rather that the amount to be sprinkled.
Whereas if you use ‘Saupoudrer’ , it just means ‘to sprinkle’ so you have to use avec and the partitive du, de la, des...
Hope I have done this justice but you will definitely see both in French.
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