"The duck drinks water."

Translation: Le canard boit de l'eau.

[tysalamat]

Can anybody tell me why it isn't correct to write only "Le canard boit l'eau"? :( I'm a bit confused with this.

[Arjofocolovi]

"Le canard boit l'eau" = "The duck drinks the water".

[tysalamat]

Oh. Thanks! (:

[elysiumc]

What is the difference between d'eau and de l'eau?

[Arjofocolovi]

"Un verre d'eau" = "A glass of water"

"Je bois de l'eau" = "I drink some water" or "I drink water"

[alexabril]

boit de l´eau? or boit l´eau ?

[Arjofocolovi]

Please read the existing comments before posting, we just talked about this with @Tysalamat.

• "Le canard boit l'eau" = "The duck drinks the water"
• "Le canard boit de l'eau" = "The duck drinks water"

[Kyozaki]

I typed "le canard boit du l'eau" and it was rejected saying that "le canard boit de l'eau" would have been correct. Could someone please explain why "du l'eau" is not correct in this case? Thanks

[Arjofocolovi]

It's either "du" or "de l' " but you can't mix them together.

They have the same use, but you use "de l' " when there is a vowel at the beginning of the noun.

• Ex : "de l'argent" = "some money"

Also, for feminine you use "de la".

• Ex : "de la monnaie" = "some change"

You can find more on this matter here :

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/dudelades.shtml

[JROfftoFrance]

Same issue probably as everyone else: but what is the difference between this and 'your horse drinks water'. In that sentence d'eau is acceptable, but not here...

[JROfftoFrance]

Same issue probably as everyone else: but what is the difference between this and 'your horse drinks water'. In that sentence d'eau is acceptable, but not here...

[Arjofocolovi]

If the sentence is "Your horse drinks water" here are all the answers that should be accepted :

• "Ton cheval boit de l'eau"
• "Votre cheval boit de l'eau" (formal you)

"Ton cheval boit d'eau" for example, is not correct French.