Julie veut du chocolat

HELENA W.A1Kwiziq community member

Julie veut du chocolat

In the mini quiz after the lesson on Du, I translated this sentence as “Julie wants some chocolate”. The lesson on “du” clearly stated this to mean “some”. Why was I marked as not correct? The answer was given as “Julie wants chocolate”. If this translation is the preferred one why is it not taught in the relevant lesson? 




Asked 3 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

The difference is that the 2 sentences "I want chocolate" and "I want some chocolate" are not actually different in meaning in English. In English, the "some" can be left out and frequently is.

French does not leave out 'some' - it cannot be «Julie veut chocolat», it has to be «Julie veut du chocolat», so both English sentences take on the same (single) form in French.

In terms of the marking, if it was a free form response required, both English answers are correct for «Julie veut du chocolat» , so if you think there was a problem in marking, you should report it from the quiz itself to be checked.

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Helena,

The following is directly from the lesson:-

"Note that some words can be both countable and not countable, for example chocolat, can mean chocolate (in general) or chocolates (individual sweets). Depending on which it is, use the correct article, like this:

J'ai des chocolats dans ma poche. (I have some chocolates in my pocket.)
Je veux du chocolat tout de suite. (I want some chocolate right now.)"

I suspect that this is the key to your query -- the point about countable or non-countable in the case of chocolate.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Are you positive that your answer was flagged as incorrect? Sometimes there's a small typo in the answer, which sets off the error flag. I can't really find fault with your answer.

Julia wants (some) chocolate. -- Julia veut du chocolat. (non-countable)
Julia wants some chocolates. -- Julia veut des chocolats. (countable)

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

As Maarten says, both sentences mean the same thing, and in English you can include or omit "some". So your answer wasn't wrong, but I think this a question where you are asked to select all possible correct answers.

Julie veut du chocolat

In the mini quiz after the lesson on Du, I translated this sentence as “Julie wants some chocolate”. The lesson on “du” clearly stated this to mean “some”. Why was I marked as not correct? The answer was given as “Julie wants chocolate”. If this translation is the preferred one why is it not taught in the relevant lesson? 




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