why is it that we can say je suis des parents, but not je suis des a amoureux?

Question

I mean this as in, when we say je suis des parents we say I am a parent, but when we say je suis des a amoureux we say I'm lovers - which makes no sense. Maybe it's just des I am confused with?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Patrick !

First of all, you can never say "Je suis" with either "des parents" nor "des amoureux", as it's singular.
You can say "Nous sommes des parents." or "Nous sommes parents." just like you say either "Nous sommes des amoureux." or "Nous sommes amoureux.".

In the case with "des", you insist on the *person* = we are (some) parents/lovers;
whereas in the second case, it becomes more of a characteristic:
= We are parents (it's our function) / We are *in love*.

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !