"Books are my best friends."

Translation: Les livres sont mes meilleurs amis.

[solipsist180]

Is not « les livres » = the books, while « des livres » = books ?

[Sitesurf]

In French, generalities need a definite article (unlike English) : "les livres" means "books in general".

[rprevatt421_124]

Why do I have to use << amis >> here and am not able to use << copains >> ?

[Budahazy]

At the last question I dropped out because íI translated :
Books= des livres.
Why isn't good the "books"=des livres and the books = Les livres.

POURQUOI?

[Budahazy]

I've just seen Sitesurf explication: In French, generalities need a definite article (unlike English) : "les livres" means "books in general"..Thanks.
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[movingsouth]

Doesn't this literally translate as 'my better friends'? I think I would say 'Ce sont les meilleurs livres' for 'these are the best books'. How would I say 'these are my best books?' In other words, how do I combine mes and les? How do I distinguish between 'my better' and 'my best'?

[Sitesurf]

"these are my best books" = ce sont mes meilleurs livres (the best I have).

"these are my better books" = ce sont les meilleurs de mes livres (the best of all those I have)

"these are the best books" = ce sont les meilleurs livres.

French does not have a specific word for "my better".

[jabenpor]

Why not mes meilleures amies. I know that le livre is mail, but in plural¿?

[Sitesurf]

"le livre" is not "mail", nor "male" but masculine.

So, "les livres (masc plur) sont mes meilleurs (masc plural) amis (masc plur)"

And "les sucreries (fem plur) sont mes meilleures (fem plur) ennemies (fem plur)"

[Scotchtape2]

That's sad