"les" or "des"

Thy M.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

"les" or "des"

Bonjour,

I have a tiny off-topic question relating the articles of the nouns before qui/que.

Must the articles always be "les" instead of "des" because the noun is defined by qui/que later on already. Is this the right way to understand it?

The examples in this lesson always use un/une and verb of preference like "adorer" (which we all know must go with definite articles).

So I'm just asking what if I want to say: "They are the girls who I saw yesterday". Should it be:

   a) Elles sont les filles que j'ai vues hier

   b) Elles sont des filles que j'ai vues hier

Merci.

Asked 1 year ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Thy, 

The answer is neither as it should be -

Ce sont les filles que j'ai vues hier These are the girls I saw yesterday 

If you said -

Ce sont des filles que j'ai vues hier = These are some girls that I saw yesterday.

Hope I understood your question correctly, let me know if not.

Thy M.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hello Cécile,

Yes you understand it correctly, thank you for your answer, it clears up my confusion.

Bonne journée.

Thy M. asked:

"les" or "des"

Bonjour,

I have a tiny off-topic question relating the articles of the nouns before qui/que.

Must the articles always be "les" instead of "des" because the noun is defined by qui/que later on already. Is this the right way to understand it?

The examples in this lesson always use un/une and verb of preference like "adorer" (which we all know must go with definite articles).

So I'm just asking what if I want to say: "They are the girls who I saw yesterday". Should it be:

   a) Elles sont les filles que j'ai vues hier

   b) Elles sont des filles que j'ai vues hier

Merci.

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