La Guadeloupe?

GeeC1Kwiziq community member

La Guadeloupe?

How come there's no "la" in front of Guadeloupe?

There's even a suggested lesson for this translation exercise that says that country names are preceded by the definite article? Using le, la, l', les with continents, countries & regions names (definite articles)%252Fsearch%253Fs%253Darticle%252Bcountry

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Gee,

Thank you for your reply!

In both cases, using "de la" is correct. It was accepted for "la sous-préfecture de Guadeloupe" but not for "une des plus belles plages de Guadeloupe" - it has now been added as a correct alternative.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The article is used correctly in the title, so the explanation should be in the structure/context of the responses. 

The general rule apparently is NOT to use ‘ de la ‘ unless the country is being referred to as an economic/political entity, rather than as a place of origin or similar. 

Think ‘Le Tour de France’, ‘les plus beaux villages de France’, ‘produit de France’, for examples.

See link : https://www.intermarkls.com/single-post/2015/07/11/the-french-they-never-taught-you-22-de-france-or-de-la-france 

 

PS Although many islands do not take an article, that is not the explanation here.

 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/geographical-prepositions-islands-cities/

CélineKwiziq team member

Bonjour Gee,

Could you let me know which sentence you are referring to please? It would make it easier to answer your query.

Merci et bonne journée !

GeeC1Kwiziq community member

@Celine:

- la sous-préfecture de Guadeloupe

- une des plus belles plages de Guadeloupe

Gee asked:View original

La Guadeloupe?

How come there's no "la" in front of Guadeloupe?

There's even a suggested lesson for this translation exercise that says that country names are preceded by the definite article? Using le, la, l', les with continents, countries & regions names (definite articles)%252Fsearch%253Fs%253Darticle%252Bcountry

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