Je ne sens plus mes jambes
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Andy N.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Je ne sens plus mes jambes
Hello, in the writing test for A2 Week 35 'Je ne sens plus mes jambes' is given as the answer for a translation of 'I can't feel my legs anymore.'
Since in this sentence 'jambes' are the object, this left me a bit confused.
~Could you help please?
This question relates to:French lesson "Special cases when you use mon/ma/mes/etc with parts of the body (French Possessive Adjectives)"
Asked 7 years ago
Bonjour Andy !
I know it's quite confusing, don't worry !
Here it's a case of needing to specify which legs as the context is not that explicit.
For example, the verb here is not reflexive, as in "Je me brosse les dents." (I brush myself the teeth.), in which case we're given the owner of the teeth within the sentence.
Here we need to say "mes jambes" as opposed to someone else's.
And in the case of "J'ai des crampes dans les épaules", you use "les" because of the clear context set up in the previous sentence, but also of the use of "avoir" (J'ai des crampes) which emphasises the belonging of the shoulders to the person speaking, hence the use of "les".
I know it's quite confusing, don't worry !
Here it's a case of needing to specify which legs as the context is not that explicit.
For example, the verb here is not reflexive, as in "Je me brosse les dents." (I brush myself the teeth.), in which case we're given the owner of the teeth within the sentence.
Here we need to say "mes jambes" as opposed to someone else's.
And in the case of "J'ai des crampes dans les épaules", you use "les" because of the clear context set up in the previous sentence, but also of the use of "avoir" (J'ai des crampes) which emphasises the belonging of the shoulders to the person speaking, hence the use of "les".
Janet B.Kwiziq community member
Sorry, I don't see the logic of your answer, re "Je ne sens plus mes jambes". I mean, wouldn't it be clear, if someone says, "I can't feel...." that they would be referring to their legs, and not someone else's? Unless we're talking about an X-rated film. ;-) Therefore, shouldn't the correct answer be "Je ne sens plus LES jambes" ?
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