La or de la pistache

Rhea S.B2Kwiziq community member

La or de la pistache

Salut! Why is it “je préfère la pistache” instead of “de la pistache”. Do we not use du, de la, etc before food in this case? 

Asked 3 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Rhea, 

With verbs like 'préférer', 'aimer', 'détester' you are generalising what you like, hate or prefer so  you will not use the partitive du, de la, de l', des 

but le, la, les.

J'aime le fromage = I love cheese

Il préfère la pistache à la vanille = He prefers pistachio to vanilla 

Nous détestons les haricots rouges = We hate kidney beans

But if you were ordering, eating or buying you would say-

Je voudrais des asperges = I'd like some asparagus 

Il mange du beurre avec ses épinards = He is eating some butter with his spinach

Nous achetons de l'huile d'olive = We are buying olive oil 

indicating you are talking about a quantity of something and not the whole lot.

Hope this helps!

 

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Rhea,

La pistache is a countable noun. This is the flavour requested (The nut flavour).

If you had requested some nut flavour you would say "de la pistache" but you are simply requesting "the nut flavour".

Hope this helps.

Jim

Rhea S. asked:

La or de la pistache

Salut! Why is it “je préfère la pistache” instead of “de la pistache”. Do we not use du, de la, etc before food in this case? 

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