Un bâton dans “l’air.”...deux bâtons dans “les airs”? Expliquez pourquoi on dit “les airs”, s’il vous plaît.

Question

Pourriez-vous donner autre exemples de cette règle?

Answer

Hi Dorothy,
Can’t find the context to this, can you point me to it?

Answer

It is in the 4th sentence of writing exercise”Fanfare”.   ...les majorettes, qui feront tournoyer leurs bâtons ‘dans les airs’   —in the air.   A plural for”air” seems strange to me.  So I think it may be iia special French usage.

Answer

Hi Dorothy;
There are a few expressions you can use in French for ‘into the air’...
For instance , if you throw a stick to the dog you will probably just use ‘lancer un baton dans l’air’. You will say of a plane flying ‘dans les airs’, meaning higher up into the sky...
So the majorettes throw their sticks really high into the air, figuratively into the sky...
Simpler in English I think...
Hope this helps

Answer

Alors, “une majorette peut jeter son bâton dans les airs” aussi!   C’est ce que je comprend.  Merci bien, Cécile.