"of the" versus "of some" How do you differentiate between "of the" and "of some" in French? Because they seem identical. My understanding is below. Where am I making a mistake? Or is there no way to

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Philip

"of the" versus "of some" How do you differentiate between "of the" and "of some" in French? Because they seem identical. My understanding is below. Where am I making a mistake? Or is there no way to differentiate? de le --> du de les --> des the bread = le pain some bread = du pain the slices = les tranches some slices = des tranches I need the bread. = J'ai besoin de le pain. --> J'ai besoin du pain. I need some bread. = J'ai besoin de du pain. --> J'ai besoin du pain. I need the slices. = J'ai besoin de les tranches. --> J'ai besoin des tranches. I need some slices. = J'ai besoin de des tranches. --> J'ai besoin des tranches.

13 Thg 11 2018 09:53

Câu trả lời · 9

Grammaire Progressive du Français by Clé International is an excellent grammar book.

13 tháng 11 năm 2018

Note that de du -> de and de des -> de too. I wrote a bit long article on the subject there: https://www.italki.com/question/363722 So for your sentences: - I need some bread. = J'ai besoin de du pain. --> J'ai besoin DE pain. - I need some slices. = J'ai besoin de des tranches. --> J'ai besoin DE tranches. As I described in my post, you just add one level of indetermination each time one "de" is inserted, you gain in generality. - J'ai besoin du pain = I need the bread, the one which is on the table right now. - Je besoin de pain = I need some bread, any bread will do. - J'ai besoin des tranches = I need the 5 slices already cut I can see there. - Je besoin de tranches = I need some slices, I don't know how many yet, but please provide some.

13 tháng 11 năm 2018

I would say.. 'I need (some)..' is like you wrote it, but 'I need the..' would have to be said in a different way, maybe like 'j'ai besoin de ce pain/ces tranches' (using that/those) :)

13 tháng 11 năm 2018