Okay, srs question cos duolingo doesn't explain this at all.
Why is du sometimes used before a noun and not other times?
Like "We are eating chicken" doesn't have an article, but I have to use du anyway?
@lanodan_tmp Yeah, but then wouldn't that translate to "We are eating the chicken"?
Like, at least in duolingo it seems random
@spiderrobotpig « On/Nous mangeons le poulet »
”We are eating the chicken”
« On/Nous mangeons du poulet »
“We are eating chicken(s)”
(du is « indéfinit » (~undefined), no plural and gender is a bit neutralised too)
@lanodan_tmp Yah, that's what someone else said too. that makes so much more sense haha
@spiderrobotpig actually, "du" is for masculin, and "de la" would be the feminim form.
This is use for indeterminate (undisclosed) quantity you are consuming.
je mange du chocolat.
je mange 100g de chocolat.
@spiderrobotpig
Je mange du poulet
could be for a forkful or a plateful.
Je mange une cuisse de poulet
(cuisse = thigh) is exactly one thigh/drumstick.
@Bigkafka That is so weird to my English speaking brain.
And even weirder to my Japanese speaking brain.
@spiderrobotpig well, du = "de le", vs. de la.
de is a bit like 'of'.
a quantity of ...
@Bigkafka I'm really glad you're helping me with this, because despite all of the good of Duolingo, it does jack shit for explaining the grammar rules
@spiderrobotpig
well, to be honest, I haven't listened to a grammar lesson in 20 yrs, so I might be missing yummy exceptions, and I might also generalize too quickly...
@Bigkafka Honestly, just a basic rundown at least lets me understand why that's a thing.
I can figure the rest out eventually. that was just really messing me up haha
@spiderrobotpig glad I can help.
Not sure I'll be able to follow on mastodon all the time, but you can always (try to?) tag me on questions...
@spiderrobotpig never encountered the :3 emoji.
Read-up about goofy face.
but it looks like a french cow: fat nose..
@Bigkafka I've always seen it as a cat or a bunny face, but cow face also sounds adorable
@spiderrobotpig @Bigkafka Might be useful to think of it as a bit like "some" in English? "We are eating (some) chicken."
@benhamill @Bigkafka Yeah, that's what I've been hearing and that it going to help a lot :3
@spiderrobotpig
That's a great question.
And some great questions must be left unanswered. Maybe because I have no clue.
@AL I actually got an answer haha
It's used for something with an indeterminate amount
@spiderrobotpig
I knew that ... *hem* :joy:
@spiderrobotpig Caveat: Not a francophone. 'du' is 'de le'. You never use 'de le' because 'du' exists. 'de' is kind of (not really, this is lies) like 'of', so when I say 'Je mange du pain', I am saying, 'I eat of the bread'. Why do I stick an article and a preposition in there when I don't in English? It is just an idiom. I don't say 'je mange pain' for the same reason I don't (generally) say 'I eat of the bread'. It just sounds weird. Hope that helps! Good luck learning French :relaxed:
@math_foo Thanks :3 and it does
@spiderrobotpig du is de+le if I remember well. (urrggh french ><)