46 Comments
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Since il boit and ils boivent sound the same (listening exercise) either ''Il boit de la bière'' or'' Ils boivent de la bière'' should be excepted. Did not except ''Il boit de la bière". I am not sure how to report this
"il boit" and "ils boivent" do not sound the same. They are pronounced /il bwa/ and /il bwav/, the difference being the v in boivent, which is not silent.
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The trouble is that the sound is okay but not great to catch these differences. I'm going back to listening x2 or X3. It took ages to work out that l'oignon was being devoured and not the menu!
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Why are "de" and "la" together and yet it translates "some" and not "the"? "The" right before the noun.
When it comes to food and drink, you keep the article "la" or "le" and add the "de". So if it was "Ils boivent LA biere", then it translates to "They drink THE beer", but since it's "Ils boivent DE la biere", it is "They drink beer". Same with bread. if it was "Ils mangent LE pain", then it translates to "They eat THE bread", but if it's "Ils mangent DU (de+le) pain", then it's "They eat bread". Hope that makes some semblance of sense:)
The partitive article is used to show that it is an undetermined amount of something. "Du" is used with masculine nouns; "de la" is used with feminine nouns. Some people translate it as "some" but it is almost always omitted in English. The partitive article may not be omitted in French.
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Correct me if im wrong, but i believe its "de la" instead of "du" cause biére is uncountable.
cgottsch, not exactly. "du" is a contraction for DE LE, not DE LA. There is no contraction for "de la." Du is a MASCULINE indefinite article. "De la" is an indefinite FEMININE article. Both translate to "some." You don't have to say "some beer" in your response, because the indefinite article "de la" implies that the quantity of beer that is drunk is not known.
Very clear explanation; merci! But I just want to make sure: if we were talking about a plural food or drink word, like bananes, then we use "des" for both fem. & masc. when talking about "some" and not "the". Correct? Merci!
If you see de la or du just drop them out of your minds patch-work 1 for 1 translation. Ils boivent de la biere --> They are drinking of the beer --> They are drinking beer
The partitive article is not translated as "of the". It is sometimes translated as "some" (referring to an undetermined amount) but this "some" is almost always omitted in English.
It is the partitive article "de la" (not just "la"). It refers to an undetermined amount of something. https://www.thoughtco.com/du-de-la-des-1368977
because du is (de + le) and since "biere" is feminine, it would have the article "la", thus being "de la biere" instead of "du biere"
Is 'de' used to remove the articles (la, le, l', un and une) in a noun? I need clarification.
Ils boivent la bière. They are drinking the beer.
Ils boivent de la bière. They are drinking beer.
"Du" (m) and "de la" (f) are called partitive articles. They refer to an undetermined amount of something. Note:
- le pain = the bread
- du pain = bread (an undetermined amount of bread)
- la bière = the beer
- de la bière = beer (an undetermined amount of beer)
Hi ! I'm having massive difficulty hearing the difference between il and ils, and elle and elles. So, if any of these are followed by mange or mangent, for example, the verb doesn't help. Eeek !
Still struggling? Check out this link: https://www.thoughtco.com/introduction-to-french-verbs-1371059
I put "they are drinking the beer" but it said it was wrong. Does "la" not mean the?
Yes, but "de la" is a partitive article and refers to an undetermined amount, i.e., not "the".
- Elle boit la bière = she is drinking the beer
- Elle boit de la bière = she is drinking beer
How do you know if a word is masculine or feminine? Is there any trick or clue to understand it?
La bière = the beer. Les bières = the beers. De la bière = beer (an undetermined amount of it).
First, there is no "il bois". The verb must agree with the subject, i.e., je bois, tu bois, il boit, nous buvons, vous buvez, ils boivent. "Bois" and "boit" sound the same, i.e., BWA. In the third person "ils boivent" (they drink, they are drinking), you will hear the "v" pronounced, but not "-ent" (which is never pronounced).
How can I differentiate the pronunciation between "Ils boivent" and "il boit" they all sound the same; and I type the later for this pronounciation?
Il boit and ils boivent require there be a reference to a noun beforehand. For example," il boit" is preceded by a name--"Paul a soif. Il boit". Or, "The boys ont are thirsty. They drink water." "Les garçons ont soif. Ils boivent." Both il boit and ils boivent sound alike.
They do not sound alike. "Bois" and "boit" sound like BWA. In "boivent", you will hear the "v" pronounced (BWAV). That is the only difference in pronunciation between "il boit" and "ils boivent".
Having hearing loss I find the women speaking this phrase very difficult to understand what she is pronounciating.
it says 'la beir' in it, so wouldn't it be 'the beer' instead of just 'beer'? When I asked what la means to check it again it still says that 'la/le' means 'the'
What's the difference between "...boivent DE LA biere." and "...boivent LA biere."??
I've seen some sentences where they use 'des' for an indefinite article. How do I know if i should you 'des', or 'de la'?
