Two questions: one word choice, one choice of article

Question

1- I am unsure of when to use "personnes" and when to use "gens." I had, "Disons une trentaine de gens."

2- Why is it "Ma mère adore le fruit de la passion et l'ananas" with the definite article but "...mais les enfants préféreraient du chocolat" ?

I thought this was a general opinion and therefore chose the definite article "le" for "chocolat," as well.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Adrienne,
 
1- In this context (talking about a number of people) you would use "personnes" as it is a countable word whilst "gens" isn't. See the difference between both words here: Les gens versus les personnes
 
2- 'Le' is indeed a correct option here and it is now being added as an option. It isn't unusual to use 'du' in this case as it is preceded by Le Conditionnel Présent.

Je préfèrerais du chocolat = I would prefer (some) chocolate -> "some" / partitive article
Je préfère le chocolat = I prefer chocolate -> general statement (I always do)

I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !