’de noix de coco’ au lieu de ’de la noix de coco’ | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

slender hullBOT Jun 5, 2025, 5:03 AM

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Please be patient

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

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

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.

terse flume Jun 5, 2025, 5:03 AM

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slender hullBOT Jun 5, 2025, 5:05 AM

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’de noix de coco’ au lieu de ’de la noix de coco’

short mica Jun 5, 2025, 5:14 AM

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Because it’s not a specific coconut

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Lait de [noix de coco] = Milk obtained from a coconut. It doesn’t matter if it’s an Indonesian coconut, a Madagascar coconut, or whatever as long as it’s a coconut.
Lait de [la noix de coco] = Milk obtained from THE coconut, as in this one specific coconut that we all know

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Read this for more
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-description/

Lawless French

lkl

Descriptive de vs Possessive de - Lawless French Grammar

Sometimes the choice between de and du, de la, des is simply a question of whether you're describing a noun or indicating a possessor.

terse flume Jun 5, 2025, 5:24 AM

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Ah that makes sense. I don't know why I thought of it as "un / une" for non-specific and anything with "de" as specific

#’de noix de coco’ au lieu de ’de la noix de coco’