Vous êtes des parents heureux.

Rahul K.A2Kwiziq community member

Vous êtes des parents heureux.

Use of "des" in  "Vous êtes les parents heureux" is not understandable, can we use "les" in place of "des"? if not why?

regards,

rahul

Asked 22 hours ago
CélineKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Bonjour Rahul,

Vous êtes des parents heureux = You are happy parents

-> a general description

Vous êtes les heureux parents dont je parle You are the happy parents I am talking about
Vous êtes les heureux parents que j'ai rencontrés hier = You are the happy parents I met yesterday
Vous êtes les heureux parents du petit Marc = You are little Marc's happy parents 

-> specific parents / the use of "les" requires something extra to follow (dont je parle / que j'ai rencontrés / du petit Marc) to be part of the sentence - otherwise, it sounds very strange in French.

So, without a clear context that points to specific parents, des is the right choice.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Rahul K. asked:

Vous êtes des parents heureux.

Use of "des" in  "Vous êtes les parents heureux" is not understandable, can we use "les" in place of "des"? if not why?

regards,

rahul

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