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- "Elle mange du pain et de la …
"Elle mange du pain et de la confiture."
Translation:She eats bread and jam.
15 Comments
It can be what you suggest, but it does not have to be so.
The partitives "du" and "de la" mean "some" before a mass noun, but "some" is not a required translation for French partitive articles.
So then what defines some; Is it the context? How do we know it's she eats some bread and some jam and she eats bread and jam?
If i tell you I'm eating bread and jam, without specifying an amount, you are not going to assume I'm eating all the bread and jam everywhere.
By default, I'm having "some" bread and jam. The translation means precisely the same thing with or without "some."
DU PAIN means "SOME BREAD".. why the PAIN does not become PAINS? (pluralized) and be DU PAINS...
"Du pain" means "(some) bread", with "pain/bread" as a mass noun.
If you were to mean "(some) breads" in plural, you would use the plural indefinite article "des", meaning "more than one" = des pains
We don't say in English, ' I am eating breads.' We say,' I am eating bread' even adding the word, some, 'I am eating some bread', not, 'I am eating some breads' I think this is why but I'm not 100% sure.
"Du" is the contraction of "de+le". It is the masculine partitive article.
The feminine version is "de la" (not "de").
Whenever the following noun starts with a vowel sound, both "du" and "de la" become "de l'".
- du pain (masc)
- de la confiture (fem)
- de l'eau (fem)
- de l'alcool (masc)
When I ask what 'mange' means it says,'eats/is eating/am eating'. I put is eating but it counted it wrong because they wanted 'eats' instead. How do I tell when its' eats, is eating or am eating?
How do I know when I need "de la"? I have seen it with viande, salade, and now confiture.
Uncountable nouns need a partitive article when they are the direct object of a standard verb: "du", "de la" or "de l'". These partitive articles are required when the meaning is "an unknown amount of a mass".
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