Topic: French

"Les soldats ne sont pas des artistes."

Translation:The soldiers are not artists.

March 13, 2013

14 Comments

https://www.duolingo.com/cravatenamja

    Why is "des" not "de" here after a negative construction?

    March 13, 2013
    https://www.duolingo.com/patlaf

      That doesn't apply to a negations of the verb être

      See point 4 here: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/de-vs-du-de-la-des_2.htm

      March 14, 2013
      https://www.duolingo.com/sylvietr
      • 18

      Thanks for your question, cravatenmja, and thanks for the link patlaf! Although I use it correctly (out of habit), I didn't realize there was a distinction or a rule, so this is helpful.

      September 5, 2014
      https://www.duolingo.com/AghaZC

        Is this a quote from some famous french guy?

        January 10, 2016
        https://www.duolingo.com/victorgijsbers

          Seems to me that the opposite would be more quotable... "Soldiers are artists. They paint in blood and guts."

          June 9, 2016
          https://www.duolingo.com/qwertyface

            "Soldiers are artists. They paint in blood and guts." Pas mal

            November 28, 2017
            https://www.duolingo.com/pietvo
            • 75

            Can this not be translated "soldiers are not artists"?

            August 1, 2015
            https://www.duolingo.com/DLDoozey

              I'm curious too as to why the article is required here.

              September 11, 2015
              https://www.duolingo.com/organell
              • 1331

              It was accepted today 2015-09-20.

              September 20, 2015
              https://www.duolingo.com/CeciEstLaVie

                'soldiers aren't artists' also accepted, 2015/9/22

                September 22, 2015
                https://www.duolingo.com/BePolyglot

                  Shouldn't the sentence "The soldiers are no artists." be accepted?

                  May 24, 2014
                  https://www.duolingo.com/j2thej
                  Plus

                    why not "the soldiers are no artists"?

                    August 23, 2017
                    https://www.duolingo.com/helenhahahaha

                      Soldiers can also be artist

                      November 30, 2018
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