5

My understanding is that both the following sentences can be translated as "I eat chocolate" or "I am eating some chocolate":

  • Je mange du chocolat.
  • Je mange le chocolat.

I am unclear what the difference is between the two. I know the first can be used to mean "I'm eating some chocolate" and the second to mean "I'm eating the chocolate", but are both sentences interchangeable to mean "I eat chocolate" in a general way, for example as a response to someone asking "What do you usually eat for breakfast"?

silph
  • 4,526
  • 20
  • 38

2 Answers2

6

Last question first:

What is the general translation of 'I eat chocolate.'

Qu'est-ce que tu manges au petit déjeuner ? Je mange du chocolat.

Why? Let's answer that by studying several variations.

Variations

"Je mange du chocolat."

I eat chocolate.

Here, "du" is totally neutral: you somehow designate the chocolate in a general way.

"Je mange un peu de chocolat."

I eat some chocolate.

Now we insist on the fact that only a bit of it is being eaten.

"Je mange le chocolat."

I eat the chocolate. (You know which one, the one you gave me.)

Using "le" implies you are speaking of a specific chocolate.

Conclusion

The neutral form is: "Je mange du chocolat."

Beware though of the negative form, as was asked here before: if you want to say "I never eat chocolate", "du" becomes "de": "Je ne mange jamais de chocolat."

Footnote

As highlighted by jlliagre, this is not a generic rule. It works only for uncountable.

With countables, you would not use "du" but "les": "I like men." would translate "J'aime les hommes."

Countables and uncountables do not use the same sentences in French. Some examples:

  • "I prefer chocolate." = "Je préfère le chocolat."
  • "I prefer men." = "Je préfère les hommes."
  • "I prefer that chocolate." = "Je préfère ce chocolat."
  • "I prefer that man." = "Je préfère cet homme."
  • "I would like some chocolate." = "Je voudrais du chocolat."
  • "I would like some man." = "J'aimerais un homme."
  • "There is less chocolate than before." = "Il y a moins de chocolat qu'avant."
  • "There are fewer men than before." = "Il y a moins d'hommes qu'avant."
Community
  • 1
Chop
  • 4,475
  • 14
  • 32
  • Thanks! Let me ask a question to make sure i understand your answer. If someone asked me if I had a crush on Sarah ("Est-ce que tu aime Sarah?") and I wanted to say that actually, I like men, I would say "J'aime des hommes" because iI'm saying i like men in general, and so I would use de + les. Saying "J'aime les hommes" would mean that I like certain specific men (and that it's understood what specific men I mean). Is this correct? – silph Aug 03 '15 at 14:10
  • @silph That's the other way around. You should answer, "Je préfère les hommes." (meaning men in general). – jlliagre Aug 03 '15 at 14:42
  • @jlliagre, did I misunderstand Chop's answer, then? I thought this answer was saying that I use de la / du / des if I'm talking about chocolate (or men) in a general way, and la / le / les if I'm talking about chocolate (or men) in specific? – silph Aug 03 '15 at 14:45
  • 1
    You didn't misunderstand Chop's answer. Men and chocolate are just not interchangeable here. You do not use "de l'homme" or "de la femme" with "aimer/préférer" unless you are a cannibal ;-) – jlliagre Aug 03 '15 at 14:52
  • Hm, I seem to not understand the rule behind these sentences then! I am not seeing where the difference is between "I eat chocolate (chocolate, in general)" and "I prefer men (men, in general)"! They seem to have the exact same structure, so I don't see why it's "du chocolat" to mean chocolate in general, but "les hommes" to mean men in general..? – silph Aug 03 '15 at 14:57
  • 2
    I prefer chocolate -> "Je préfère le chocolat." I prefer men -> "Je préfère les hommes." I prefer that chocolate -> "Je préfère ce chocolat.", I prefer that man -> "Je préfère cet homme." I would like some chocolate -> "Je voudrais du chocolat." I would like some man -> "J'aimerais un homme". The latter difference is due to the fact "du" is not used with a countable term. – jlliagre Aug 03 '15 at 15:25
  • Thanks, jlliagre. @silph, I updated my answer to add a note with jlliagre's example: the rules are not the same for countables and uncountables. For another example with "eat": "pasta" is countable in French, so "I eat pasta." would translate "Je mange des* pâtes.*" – Chop Aug 03 '15 at 16:24
  • thanks for your patience. Could you explain why chocolate in general is "le" in "Je préfère le chocolat.", but chocolate in general is du in "J'aime du chocolat"? Are the rules different because of the verb, and I just have to memorise a separate rule for each verb I learn? – silph Aug 03 '15 at 18:55
  • "J'aime du chocolat" is not idiomatic, that should be "J'aime le chocolat" too. On the other hand, "J'aimerais du chocolat" is correct ... See http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/8269/la-difference-entre-jaime-le-fromage-et-jaime-du-fromage – jlliagre Aug 03 '15 at 21:37
  • I'm sorry, I made a mistake in my previous comment. I used "J'aime" instead of "Je mange". This is what I should have wrote: Could you explain why chocolate in general is "le" in "Je préfère le chocolat.", but chocolate in general is "du" in "Je mange du chocolat"? [That is, both these phrases were written in Chop's answer] – silph Aug 04 '15 at 01:53
  • @silph "J'aime/Je préfère le chocolat." means you like/prefer the chocolate in general. "Je mange du chocolat." means you are eating a piece of chocolate, not all the chocolate in the world. Is that clearer? – Chop Aug 04 '15 at 05:27
  • Thanks for continuing to try to explain; it's still not clear to me, however. I think I understand that "J'aime/Je préfère le chocolat." means chocolate in general. I don't understand why "Je mange le chocolat" means a specific chocolate, instead of also meaning chocolate in general. – silph Aug 04 '15 at 06:46
  • 1
    @silph I must admit I am short for an explanation here, but that's the way with idioms: it is sometimes hard to explain why a sentence is built this way and not that. With "manger" and "boire" (to drink), you imply you consume only part of it, and you mean "de" to make this obvious. If you say "Je mange le chocolat (que tu m'as offert)" (the chocolate (you gave me)), it's equivalent to "Je mange ce chocolat" (I eat that chocolate). Not sure it helps, but I lack the profound reason and I'm tempted to answer that's just the way French is built (though it's a coward's or lazy's answer). – Chop Aug 04 '15 at 07:02
  • Chop, i'm going to sit down in the next few days an organize in my head all the different ideas brought up on this page. I think there's a lot for me to learn, here, so thanks for the effort! Your explanation (your second sentence) is very much in line with my learning style (ie a kind of "subjective" explanation) so that makes it much more helpful about why "de" is used so often with manger. – silph Aug 04 '15 at 07:33
-1

The best way to say it is Je mange du chocolat. Je mange le chocolat means you're eating a specific chocolate like someone's chocolate. I can't recall hearing this.

milk2go
  • 1,577
  • 1
  • 11
  • 25