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- "Yes, we love cheese."
"Yes, we love cheese."
Translation:Oui, nous adorons le fromage.
62 Comments
Sometimes "du" means "of the" and might indicate possession. Sometimes "du" means "some". It depends on the context.
- Je mange du fromage = I eat some cheese.
- Je mange un tiers du fromage. = I eat a third of the cheese.
- Le fromage du jour = The cheese of the day.
- Le fromage du chien = The dog's cheese
"we love cheese" and "we eat cheese" are built the same way in English but not in French because they express different notions:
-
nous aimons le fromage: "cheese" in general, all types of cheese, cheese as a category: then the French require definite article le/la/les
-
nous mangeons du fromage: a certain quantity of cheese, not a whole cheese but a bit of it, some of the cheese: then the French use the partitive (part of) form with preposition "de" + definite article le/la
I understand there is a difference between "I like a certain quantity of cheese" and "I like cheese in general" and that the first one is "J'aime du fromage" and the second one is "J'aime le fromage"
The thing that I don't understand is that if duolingo is asking me to translate the french "J'aime du fromage" or "J'aime le fromage" I can fill in "I like cheese" in both cases and be labeled correct. So my question is if duolingo asks me to translate "I like cheese" how can I tell which one it is that duolingo wants me to pick? Because sometimes I fill in du fromage and it says that it is correct, sometimes it is incorrect. Sometimes I fill in le fromage and it is correct and sometimes it is incorrect. There is no consistency.
Your previous posts don't explain this.
Duolingo will not ask you to translate "j'aime du fromage" because it is not correct French.
"J'aime du / de la..." is not something you would say as a statement about your tastes.
In the French logic, you cannot like/love an undefined quantity of something.
What you can say is: "j'aime manger du fromage", because then "fromage" will be the object of "manger" and not "j'aime".
If Duolingo asks you to translate "I like cheese", you will remember that appreciation verbs (aimer, adorer, préférer, détester, apprécier, haïr...) naturally introduce generalities (construction with definite article le/la/les) and translate "j'aime le fromage" because there is no alternative.
Also see here http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/some
used to refer to certain members of a group or certain types of a thing, but not all of them
I like some modern music (= but not all of it).
@ThanKwee:
What if Duo asked to translate "I like some cheese"? In other words, I don't like all cheese, just some cheese.
If I don't like all kinds of cheese, just blue cheese, it's still "blue cheese" in general, so
J'aime le fromage bleu.
The only situations of "I don't like all cheese, just some cheese" that I can think of is
-I'd like some cheese for now.
-Je voudrais du fromage maintenant.
or
-I like to eat some cheese.
-J'aime manger du fromage.
Why would you say "I like some cheese, not all" when you want to express your preference to this kind of food or you want to eat some of the food?
2013.11.04
@ThanKwee:
@Carl. You're right that saying "I like some types of cheese" is better, but I could say "I like some cheese" and for me it would mean the same thing. Of course in spoken English, some would be emphasized. In written English, it's more confusing.@ThanKwee:
Also see here http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/someused to refer to certain members of a group or certain types of a thing, but not all of them
I like some modern music (= but not all of it).
D'accord. I get your point. Let's see how @Sitesurf is going to explain this. ;)
2013.11.04
@Carl_Shan & ThankWee:
"I like some cheese" would probably mean that you like some types of cheese and not others (blue ones vs white ones, or cow milk vs goat milk...).
The French would then be: "j'aime certains fromages"(in plural), because here "some" does not mean "an undefined quantity of cheese" but just "some vs all".
Alternatively, "I like some cheese" could mean "some but not much".
The French would then be: "J'aime manger un peu de fromage" (introduction of verb manger to make it work).
In addition:
- "I'd like some cheese" = "j'aimerais (bien) du fromage"
(2013.11.18 - For whatever reason, I did not know you were expecting clarification from me...)
Sentence after sentence, Duo offer examples on how the language you learn can differ from( or resemble), your own.
That is why Duo has proposed so many sentences that may look almost identical but are not. You therefore have to pay attention to every word and ask yourself about the meaning before translating.
-
we eat the cheese on offer is "nous mangeons le fromage proposé" (specific)
-
we eat cheese does not mean "we eat all cheeses". Adverb "all" gives a specific meaning. In French: "nous mangeons du fromage " vs "nous mangeons tous les fromages".
-
we eat any cheese = nous mangeons n'importe quel fromage
-
we eat (some) cheese is "nous mangeons du fromage" ie an undefined quantity of cheese (mass word, uncountable object)
-
I love cheese in general is "j'aime le fromage, en général", because "aimer, détester, adorer, préférer, haïr" are appreciation verbs, which naturally introduce generalities, constructed with a definite article (le, la, les).
you will say "j'aime ce fromage" (this cheese) or you will specify it "j'aime le fromage que j'ai acheté hier" or you will give it its name: camembert, gruyère, comté, beaufort, époisses, bleu, brie, chabichou, chaource, étorki, livarot, maroilles, morbier, muster, reblochon... (the list is too long for this thread, maybe look at this: http://www.quiveutdufromage.com/fiche-fromage?gclid=CLz71IHD77YCFdHLtAodG3cAzg
Note that in general, cheese nouns are masculine.
Maybe not: you have to focus on the verb used:
- with action verbs (manger, boire, prendre, vendre, acheter...), you use the partitive "du/de la" with uncountable objects, every time the meaning is "an undefined quantity of".
je mange du pain, je respire de l'air, j'achète de la salade
- with appreciation verbs (adorer, aimer, détester, haïr, préférer, apprécier), you use definite articles le/la/les with countable or uncountable objects, the meaning becoming a generality
j'adore le fromage (en général), je préfère la brioche (en général), je déteste les légumes (en général).
"on" can be used as "we", in speech and everyday conversations. Here -
http://www.wordreference.com/fren/on
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/27710511321/m/520003627001
:))
"aimer" means "to like" or "to love"
"adorer" means "to love" or "to adore"
As you can see, sometimes their meanings overlap and sometimes they don't. Even when they both mean "to love", there are nuances. Please have a look at this thread by Remy: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/736970
2014.07.06