why prendre aux soldats rather than prendre des soldats

Carl C.C1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

why prendre aux soldats rather than prendre des soldats

The title says it all. Why "prendre aux soldats" rather than "prendre des soldats"? Doesn't "des" mean "from the"?
Asked 2 weeks ago
Christian H.C1KwizIQ Q&A super contributorCorrect answer

"Prendre qqch. à qqn" means "take something from someone" in French. Maybe the French take the viewpoint of who you do this to, the person affected by the action.

In a CLE grammar I found this:
""à" introduit le complément des verbes qui expriment:
- l'idée d'enlèvement: arracher, enlever, voler, prendre quelque chose à quelqu'un:
J'ai emprunté ce livre à Julien, je dois le lui rendre demain.
[...]"

I was surprised by this as well. Thank you for pointing this out!

Carl C. asked:

why prendre aux soldats rather than prendre des soldats

The title says it all. Why "prendre aux soldats" rather than "prendre des soldats"? Doesn't "des" mean "from the"?

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