des vs quelques ?

Jeff M.C1Kwiziq community member

des vs quelques ?

For the quiz question whose meaning in English was given as 'I see [some] girls.

I answered:  Je vois quelques filles - which was marked incorrect.   'Je vois des filles' was the correct answer provided.

Was my translation incorrect ?    I asked an AI engine the difference - the difference it provided was subtle and both seem correct given the lack of specificity in the question.     

Asked 3 weeks ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Bonjour Jeff, 

You are correct in thinking that 'des' and 'quelques' have a similar meaning and that it is subtle, but the lesson is about using les and des, so we would avoid using 'quelques'.

Technically speaking, 'des' represents an indeterminate quantity, and 'quelques' means 'a few', so specifying that the number is small.

Hope this helps!

Jeff M. asked:

des vs quelques ?

For the quiz question whose meaning in English was given as 'I see [some] girls.

I answered:  Je vois quelques filles - which was marked incorrect.   'Je vois des filles' was the correct answer provided.

Was my translation incorrect ?    I asked an AI engine the difference - the difference it provided was subtle and both seem correct given the lack of specificity in the question.     

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