"I have some of my mother's jewelry."
Translation:J'ai des bijoux de ma mère.
16 Comments
I keep getting this wrong. My iPhone Collins has only one 'some of' example and uses 'certains de'. Google translates as below.
J'ai certains de bijoux de ma mère. = I have some of my mother's jewelry. J'ai certains bijoux de ma mère = I have some jewelry from my mother.
Can anyone verify?
Indefinite article "des" means "a certain quantity of", so if you say "j'ai des bijoux de ma mère", that is what it means.
Now, if you want to be more specific, you may add "certains", knowing that it is still followed by "des" (some - of the): j'ai certains des bijoux de ma mère.
Thanks, I understood the partitive form of the answer (Though I need to brush up on partitive/indefinite subtleties). I was finding myself stuck with the memory that 'certains de...' was like 'beaucoup de...' or 'peu de..' i.e. 'de' was fixed in this kind of structure.
"I have some of my mother's jewelry" begged for "J'ai quelques bijoux de ma mère".
What is the difference (in connotation if nothing else) between "j'ai des bijoux de ma mère" and "j'ai quelques bijoux de ma mère"? I'm guessing it is pretty much the same, but I'm interested in the small nuances.
There could be a tiny nuance with context:
Q: Qu'est-ce que tu as eu de tes parents ? (What did you get from your parents?) A: J'ai des bijoux de ma mère et des meubles de mon père. (I have got jewelry from my mother and furniture from my father)
Q: Qu'est-ce que tu as eu de ta mère ? (What did you get form your mother?) A: J'ai quelques bijoux de ma mère, mais mon frère et ma soeur ont eu tout le reste (I had a few jewels from my mother, but my brother and my sister got all the rest)
In other words, "quelques" can connote "not much", while "des" is neutral.
That means "I have a little of my mother's jewelry." These sentences do not have the same meaning.
I thought it should be 'J'en ai des.... ' as it is some OF. Is that not correct then?
"en" would replace "des bijoux": "les bijoux de ma mère, j'en ai quelques uns".
"J'ai de la bijouterie de ma mere" should be accepted too(?) I've reported it.
I see, my bad, so it's synonymous with "joaillerie" then? I'd just like to point out that "bijouterie" was (wrongly) accepted as a translation for "jewelry" in other questions in the lesson..
Une joaillerie may not be only a shop but the workshop of "un joailler" whose art is to create jewels or objects from gems, minerals, pearls, etc to enhance their colors, shapes, shine...
Une bijouterie sells jewels made by others.
Une bijouterie-joaillerie is a shop selling others' jewels and their own.
If you come across the other wrong translation for "jewelry", pls post me its link.
