"I like sugar."
Translation:J'aime le sucre.
74 Comments
Unfortunately, you can't directly translate this. French uses articles (small words like le, la, du etc.) in many cases where English doesn't.
The French rule I learned is: No naked nouns. There always needs to be an article.
1642
"j'aime du sucre" is correct grammatically, but it's not the correct way.
The rule is to use definite article "le, la, les, l'" with the verbs of passion/emotion like "like, love, hate, dislike, disgust...etc"
In this case "aime" falls in that category.
THANK YOU! I was so confused! I thought that when it said 'I eat sugar' I had to use 'du' and only 'the' when specified with 'le' You have enlightened me!
- 1642
@SaraHinata: "THANK YOU! I was so confused! I thought that when it..."
I'm so happy that I've been of help to you.
Here's a lingot to keep you motivated.
Ohh now i get it i was "du" a zillion times and was gettin it all wrng thanx buddy! U deserve lingout!!!!!
- 1642
@venetoblu: "Thanks for this explanation...."
Yup, that's exactly what I meant. I have corrected the mistake.
Cheers!
- 1642
@REINE_MOI_123: "thank you so much for explaining that..."
glad to help you
Thanks for this explanation. (Do you mean 'disgust' rather than 'disguise' ?)
- 1642
@shreyafrench1: "Ohh now i get it i was "du" a zillion times...."
Glad to be helpful... thanks for the lingot.
Highly ironic, given that many Americans assume the French culture embraces nudity. Thanks @gregoir123 for the info !
So following another post here, would you use j'aime du sucre over j'aime le sucre?
I eat sugar is Je mange du sucre... but I like sugar is Je mange le sucre?
And.. what is du if not de + article(le)??..
Seriously, what a tease. Maybe advanced French grammar teachers can worry about that one, but "I adore sugar" makes perfect sense.
Edit: To clarify, I got "J'adore" as a multiple choice answer.
think it's strained to put 'j'aime' and j'adore' together here as choices. At least both can express the same feeling and only the extents are different. But aren't the same feeling enough to match the question??
- 1642
It's wrong though.
The rule in French is to use the "le, la, les" after using the verb like/love "aimer"
I learned this in discussions, so hope it helps.
Yep! And with food, too. Even though you'd really say, je veux manger du pain. You would say- j'aime le pain
It said I was wrong when I selected that, so inconsistent, especially because two questions before it told me that was the answer
J'adore tends to be used more flippantly (J'adore Paris... J'adore cette chemise!). It's similar to English's 'to like.' Aimer is love, but also to like and I've never really heard anyone say J'adore la nourriture - it's awkward.
it is the adjective the one that should end in "e" when is femenine, not the noun...
wouldn't le mean the sugar? because this is an unmeasured amount I thought it would be du or de le?
You are right for saying that "sucre" is an unmeasured word. But when using such verbs like "aimer", "préférer" or "détester" (dislike), on should use "le, la, les" and not "du, de la, de l'". "J'aime le sucre" ≠ "Je n'aime pas le sucre" but "Je veux du sucre" ≠ "Je ne veux pas de sucre"
- 1642
"adore" means love or adore in english; which is emphasising the love!
"aime" means like or love
It clearly didn't have a "the" in it, if there is no "the" then we don't put the "le" in the translation! Or do we?
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the article needs to be attached to the noun (well not often, anyways).
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese = I am eating some cheese (Literally - in English, I eat of the cheese but you cannot always translate literally from one language to another.)
Je mange le fromage = I eat THE cheese = I am eating THE cheese.
However….
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
dearest duolingo - there seems to be much confusion regarding the use of "du" and "le" with regards to the sentence "j'aime le sucre." may i suggest posting an explanation of WHY the above sentence is correct/incorrect instead of merely a "check" or "x", or other users postulating the seemingly nebulous rules of the french language. are there no moderators?!
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the article needs to be attached to the noun (well not often, anyways).
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese = I am eating some cheese (Literally - in English, I eat of the cheese but you cannot always translate literally from one language to another.)
Je mange le fromage = I eat THE cheese = I am eating THE cheese.
However….
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
In this instance it would more correctly mean "I LOOOVE sugar!" - which you might! So I would think either could be correct. It would just be really emphasising the degree to which you like it. You could say it - but it would not simply mean, "I like sugar".
Aimer meaning like OR love is more specifically for people than objects/foods - so that you would be more likely to say J'adore if you REAAALLLLY love a food, or clothing item, for example. That's my understanding, anyways.
Shouldn't this be correct using either 'le' or 'du' ? It says I like sugar, not I like the sugar.
- 1642
verbs involving emotions, generally, take the definitive article "le, la, les, l'" rather than the partitive articles "du, de la, des"
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the noun needs to be attached to the article. (Well not that often.)
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese - I am eating some cheese
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
- 1642
there's no such thing as "de le".
du is contraction of 'de + le'
and we do have the definitive article (le, la, les, l') in English, but we don't always mention it; as it indicates generalities in the French sentence
Cheers! That could have been confusing not to clarify that!! I shouldn't respond late at night!
I'm unable to see all the comments. I'm only able to see the first one of 41. Suggestions?
I am annoyed there is no consistent use of article le and du. I used le on a previous answer and was wrong. I used du in this answer and was wrong. Please, what are all the rules here. Specific noun was le sucre.
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the article needs to be attached to the noun (well not often, anyways).
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese = I am eating some cheese (Literally - in English, I eat of the cheese but you cannot always translate literally from one language to another.)
Je mange le fromage = I eat THE cheese = I am eating THE cheese.
However….
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
See some of the posts above. J'adore is a very strong description - I'm guessing they are presuming most people don't feel so strongly about sugar?? Now chocolate…. that's a different matter! J'adore le chocolat!! 'o) (sans sucre!)
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the article needs to be attached to the noun (well not often, anyways).
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese = I am eating some cheese (Literally - in English, I eat of the cheese but you cannot always translate literally from one language to another.)
Je mange le fromage = I eat THE cheese = I am eating THE cheese.
However….
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
Strictly speaking it isn't - but it would not mean, I like sugar, it would mean emphatically.. I looove sugar!
- 1642
when a word ends with a vowel and the next word starts with a vowel or an unpronounced H, the last letter 'vowel' of the first letter is removed and replaced with an apostrophe '
this is the case here,
je; ends with a vowel
aime; starts with a vowel
so they become j'aime together.
of course, there are some exceptions for this rule, but this is how it's done most of the time ;)
- 1642
'aime' means like or love in English;
but 'adore' means to love or to adore, which emphasises on love emotion
So j'adore we say to people and not about things like chocolate , cold weather , leather jackets ect. ?
- 1642
you can say both "j'aime" and "j'adore" to people
but saying "j'adore" to choclate, cold weather or leather jackets, doesn't seem right, unless you really really love them, which doesn't make sense tbh.
My answer which was wrong, was J'aime du sucre. Wouldn't that be correct as well?
With words expressing your like or dislike of something, you do not use "de la, du (de+le), de l', des" - but simply "le, la, l', les". It's a French thing! The le in this instance does not mean 'the' - but is simply the article that goes along with French nouns. We don't have this in English - where the article needs to be attached to the noun (well not often, anyways).
With other verbs, you would use de la, du (de+le), de l', des - to mean either 'some' of that thing, or simply you are doing, e.g. eating (of) that thing.
Je mange du fromage = I eat cheese = I am eating cheese = I am eating some cheese (Literally - in English, I eat of the cheese but you cannot always translate literally from one language to another.)
Je mange le fromage = I eat THE cheese = I am eating THE cheese.
However….
J'aime le fromage = I like cheese
J'adore le fromage = I loooove cheese! (but for me ONLY if it is fromage de chèvre! 'o) )
As someone above said - No naked nouns! in French! They must have an article attached to them (at the front), i.e. le, la, l', les
So for example, "Cheese is fabulous" (meaning generally you think cheese is fabulous, not a specific cheese) - this would be in French "Le fromage est fabuleux!" and not just "Fromage est fabuleux" which would be incorrect.
If you were talking about a specific cheese, you could then say, "Ce fromage est fabuleux!" (This cheese is fabulous)
I hope that makes sense!
I don't think anyone else posted this, but French is often backwards from English; or they just rearrange the words. So why can't you say "Du sucre, je l'aime" I thought that would mean "Sugar, I like it." And previously there was a sentence structured like this, so I figured it was common in French.
Why can't I use du instead of le? I mean there is no 'the' in the sentence
The is no "the" in the English sentence. Duolingo should switch "le" with "du".
