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French

Secondary 2 • June 26, 2024

de la viande, des légumes and des nuages.
vande, légume are uncountable, nuage is countable.
The same “des” before uncountable and countable means different. I understand.
My question are:
légume is uncountable, why we use legume+s
if it’s reasonable, for example, légume always is diverse, why viande not viande+s, it’s diverse in the same way.

Answer (1)

Student Answer

June 26, 2024

Hello there! :)
«Légumes» is, in fact, countable, depending of the context. We can say «Il y a trois légumes sur la table».
That being said, some nouns are uncountable and require the use of the partitive «des».
Ex : Des pâtes (pasta).
In that case, the noun will mostly always be plural. (We would not say I ate one pasta). «Viande» is different. It will mostly be used with «de la» and will remain singular.
We are currently working hard in order to translate our website. In the meantime, you may try to read the following explanations in French : https://www.alloprof.qc.ca/fr/eleves/bv/francais/le-determinant-partitif-f1497
Don't be shy to contact us if you need any more help! :)
Sarah G ☺