Thom 🌈

[unique plume]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[wraith forge]

Éthique is both a noun and an adjective. Here it's functioning as an adjective -> an ethical problem

[snow zephyr]

"un vrai problème d'éthique" would work as well (here éthique as a noun)

[cold echo]

So adjectives just get added to the end (with a few exceptions) but "chocolate" is more of a descriptive noun do it needs the "au" like "cake of chocolate"?

[wraith forge]

basically, yeah, that's a fair way to reason about it

[shy tinsel]

To be perfectly honest, I would write un problème d'éthique. In my idea, éthique should be perceived as totally uncountable. So saying that a problem is ethical or is not is somwhat strange in my ears.

it's not the problem that is ethical, it's what is causing the problem that is an ethical question. In that regard, I would always say un problème de quelque, unless the question is within the problem, like a mathematical problem to be solved.

That's a very personal take that others might not agree with.

What I can see that is, the author is trying to keep the previous construction for some stylistic effect.

The key to why no d'éthique would probably be because the author wrote problème moral right before, and wants to keep the structure.

[hidden vortex]

un problème éthique → an ethical problem
un problème d'éthique → a problem of ethics

the distinction is very slight, imo, but it exists

[cold echo]

He's trying to speak clearly and slowly and introduce vocabulary into it. InnerFrench podcast is just a podcast where the guy talks slowly to get people used to listening to French to the language might be simpler

[upper sandal]

The question is in what context would you call a problem ethical

[shy tinsel]

yeah, I agree with that, but an ethical problem does have another meaning, that's the problem that is ethical, and not what's behind it, at least that's how I view it.

[cold echo]

Well citron answered my question so I'm gonna bounce

[hidden vortex]

well, this is my opinion, so take it witha grain of salt:

• "un problème éthique" → here I'm talking about a dilemma or an issue that has ethical consequences: Do I kill one man to save 10?
• "un problème d'éthique" → here I'm putting the emphasis on ethics as a field of study, so I might talk about the trolley problem. The trolly problem is a problem of ethics.

[wraith forge]

it can. but there's a couple ways to phrase it in english to make that less ambiguous, just like in french, tbh

[upper sandal]

Ah interesting

[wraith forge]

an ethical problem
an ethics problem
a problem of ethics

all potential valid options

[shy tinsel]

I meant in french not in english. I'm not competent enough in english to give a take about it.

[upper sandal]

Ahh

[wraith forge]

yeah, my point is mostly that in both languages it's potentially ambiguous

[vast warren]

Should also be noted that the « au/du » stuff is for food whereas this is just a regular noun + adjective situation. When I say, ‘chocolate cake’, I could either be describing a cake that tastes like chocolate or a cake made from chocolate; it’s ambiguous in English. In French, the usage of « à/de » separates the two. « gateau au chocolat » would cover ‘cake tasting like chocolate’ and « gateau du chocolat » would cover ‘cake made of chocolate’.

[rare crypt]

To add to that, the former uses 'à' because 'chocolat' is the main ingredient in the cake.

• Des spaghettis à la bolognaise
• Une tarte aux pommes
  While 'soy' is the main ingredient in soy milk, in French it's milk that comes from soy:
• Du lait de soja
  A good example using both would be 'cream of asparagus soup':
• Une soupe à la crème d'asperges
  Cream is the main ingredient, which itself is made from asparagus.

[hidden vortex]

hmmm your last example is not how I would parse it

« crème de X » means you've blended it
so crème d'asperges would be a purée of asparagus - there could be absolutely no cream

[shy tinsel]

Not necessarily, it could be a sort of sauce made with asparagus and dairy cream.

[rare crypt]

The purée is what makes the cream, no? A cream of asparagus.

You add milk and sour cream, according to a recipe I found.

[shy tinsel]

That's how I represent it to myself as well.