Definite articles with "de"

Tom RuneC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Definite articles with "de"

This is probably a hopeless question, but why do masculine countries require an article with "de" whereas feminine ones do not? Why not "Je viens de la France"?
Asked 6 years ago
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Hi Tom, I believe there is no explanation to your question except that that's just the way it is. Learn it and use it. Don't think about it too much.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Tom !

Yes, unfortunately, I have to go with Chris on this one : I cannot think of an explanation other than the very frustrating "That's just the way it is".

Désolée :)

RonC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonsoir Tom, To start, I do not believe this is a hopeless question. In French there are certain verbs that require a certain structure depending on usage, i.e. venir de, venir à, etc. We might, in English, call these a fixed phrase. However, depending on what follows the verb, the sense changes. So «Je viens de France» means I come from France, so in this case venir de is followed by a complement indicating the origin of the movement. With «Je viens à lui» means I come to him/her. In this case, venir à is followed by a complement indicating the terminus of the movement. Personally speaking, I have not heard the phrase «venir à» in use so I would suspect this to be somewhat colloquial. J'espère que ma réponse vous aiderait. Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études en français, la langue de Molière et qui a été utilisée par le monde français depuis l’époque d’Hugues Capet Ron (un locuteur non natif )
Tom RuneC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thank you, but I was thinking more about the difference between “je viens de France » and « je viens du pays de Galles ». The latter is considered singular and masculine, as far as I understand. Why is the article “le” used with the masculine country (contained in the contraction “du”), while the feminine country doesn’t use an article?
Tom RuneC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thanks. Yeah, I had a feeling, thus the "hopeless question" comment. Would it be fair to say that "en" never takes an article? That's my impression up until now, at least.

Definite articles with "de"

This is probably a hopeless question, but why do masculine countries require an article with "de" whereas feminine ones do not? Why not "Je viens de la France"?

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