des vs les
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Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
des vs les
It's Christmas, so "I must of course buy presents" -> "Je dois bien sûr acheter les cadeaux" according to the lastest writing challenge. "presents" is not preceded by an article in English here, so we must pick "des" or "les" in French, but which one? The way I've understood it, it should be "les" when one is referring to all elements of a kind: "I hate apples" -> "Je déteste LES pommes", and "des" when referring to a subset: "I ate apples" -> "J'ai mangé DES pommes". Thus I expected ".. acheter DES cadeaux". So why is it "les" this time ?
Asked 8 years ago
Hi Joakim and Cheryl,
It is because it implies de Noël as in -
Je dois acheter les cadeaux (de Noël)
Cheryl N.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Hi Joakim,
Sorry, I haven't an answer, but I'm just writing to concur with your question, as I'm also puzzled by "les & des" & got it wrong in this writing challenge. I look forward to reading what answer is posted about this.
Cheryl
Joakim R. asked:View original
des vs les
It's Christmas, so "I must of course buy presents" -> "Je dois bien sûr acheter les cadeaux" according to the lastest writing challenge. "presents" is not preceded by an article in English here, so we must pick "des" or "les" in French, but which one? The way I've understood it, it should be "les" when one is referring to all elements of a kind: "I hate apples" -> "Je déteste LES pommes", and "des" when referring to a subset: "I ate apples" -> "J'ai mangé DES pommes". Thus I expected ".. acheter DES cadeaux". So why is it "les" this time ?
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