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If I got it right, French must always have some article before a noun. On the other hand, English does not use articles when the speaker means all items of sth in general. So, sometimes you have to add one when translating from English to French:

I love books A and B = J'aime les livres A and B

I love books (books in general) = J'aime les livres.

Libraries are always full = Les librairies sont toujours pleines

That is OK. However, I found this sentence:

Les librairies vendent des livres = Libraries (in general) sell books (in general)

Why the indefinite article is used instead of the definite one? I'd understand using "des" with the meaning of "some" as below:

Ce magasin vend des livres = This store sells some books.

However, I do not see that usage in the previously mentioned sentence. It seems to mean "Libraries sell some books", which does not make sense to me.

Alan Evangelista
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1 Answers1

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When you say "Les librairies vendent des livres" you don't know precisely which books they sell. That's why you must use the indefinite article des.

Have a look at those examples:

Les librairies vendent actuellement le dernier livre de Stephen King.

Les librairies vendent des bandes-dessinées d'Hergé.

Les librairies vendent le roman de André Dupont.

Do you feel the difference ?

  • In the first sentence, you know exactly which book they sell, the last one of Stephen King.
  • In the second sentence, you know they sell Hergé's cartoons but that's all. Not that precise.
  • In the last one, it's not as easy. Indeed, if you haven't heard about André Dupont before you might not understand why I use le. But if you know that this man has written only one novel (or if you are a native and you will guess so ;), you will know which precise book I'm talking about.

That's why the correct translation for "Les librairies vendent des livres" is actually "Librairies sell books".

NB: here André Dupont is a fictional character ^.^

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purerstamp
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  • In English, when I say "Libraries do something", I am referring to all libraries in the world, independent of size, time or location. Thus, a sentence like "Libraries sell the novel of X" does not make sense IMHO. If I understood right what you meant with "Les librairies vendent le roman de X", in English someone would say instead "All libraries nowadays sell the novel of X" (or sth. similar). Is that the intended meaning? – Alan Evangelista Jun 05 '19 at 14:20
  • "you don't know precisely which books they sell". That is confusing. I am talking about all libraries in the world , right? They sell all the books available for sale in the entire world. I do not know either which specific books somebody likes when I say "Il aime les livres". – Alan Evangelista Jun 05 '19 at 14:24
  • But when you say "Les librairies" you are using a definite pronoun. You didn't ask about it, that's why I didn't explained. But even if you are talking about a book in particular for example, you can say that all libraries sell this book because it is famous for example or you might say almost all libraries sell this book. – purerstamp Jun 05 '19 at 14:31
  • I initially thought that I understood very well what "Les librairies" meant : either "specific bookstores", eg "bookstores A and B (sell good books)", OR "all the bookstores in the world", eg "bookstores (sell books)". However, after reading your example with André Dupont, I am not sure anymore. Is there a 3rd meaning of "(almost) all libraries nowadays"? – Alan Evangelista Jun 05 '19 at 15:21
  • When you say "le roman d'André Dupont", it means anyway he wrote only one novel so it's the same as "le dernier roman d'André Dupont" or "le roman d'André Dupont intitulé les micmacs de la langue française". Is that make sense ? – purerstamp Jun 05 '19 at 15:38
  • It does. Thanks! Regarding "les librairies", there is no 3rd meaning at all. I just got confused with the verbal tense. French often uses the Present tense for continuous actions, English uses the Present Continuous tense instead. "Les librairies vend le roman" = "Bookstores are selling the novel", NOT "Bookstores sell the novel" – Alan Evangelista Jun 05 '19 at 16:05
  • Back to the original question, I did not understand clearly why French uses "J'aime LES livres" and "Les librairies vendent DES livres" because both should describe books in general with "les". I have come to the conclusion that this last sentence simply reflects different ways of expressing the exact same context in English and in French. English thinks: Bookstores (in general) sells books (in general). French thinks: Bookstores (in general) sells a set of undetermined books. The underlying meaning is the same. – Alan Evangelista Jun 05 '19 at 16:19
  • Your conclusion sounds good to me. But in fact, when you say "J'aime les livres", you know what you like so it's not indefinite. Whereas when you say "Les librairies vendent des livres", you don't really know which ones. Is it more clear ? – purerstamp Jun 05 '19 at 17:16
  • Sorry, but not really. I know what I like as much as bookstores know what they sell. From my point of view, both sentences are talking about books in general. I hold my previous conclusion. – Alan Evangelista Jun 06 '19 at 10:40
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – purerstamp Jun 06 '19 at 11:48