electricwah

[brazen rose]

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.

[random solar]

The plural of "un" is "des"
"de des" sounds bad so the "des" just gets removed

And "ou des paroles" would be "of the lyrics" not "of lyrics"

[urban pier]

could you explain a little more? I still don't understand. Is "de des" -> "de" an actual rule or something?

[random solar]

Yes

[urban pier]

so "des paroles" would be referencing specific lyrics? Like "translation of the lyrics" in English?

[random solar]

Yes

It's a bit confusing for learners bc the article "des" (some) looks the exact same as the mandatory contraction of de + les => des (~of/from the)

[urban pier]

yeah definitely. in "de paroles", "de" is an article and not a preposition, right?

[random solar]

It's a preposition, "de" on its own never acts as an article

[urban pier]

so "des" would be the article, but it's ommited

[random solar]

There's "de la" which again can be the """article""" for "some" of something uncountable

I guess if there's an adjective before the noun "de" is kinda like an article

Hmmm

[urban pier]

yeah I'm get why it's de after pas, beaucoup, and adjectives

i'm just used to "les" for generic, general statements where in english there's no article

like j'aime les fruits vs i like apples

it seems like french nouns almost always have an article so it's confusing to me when they don't lol

[random solar]

After pas is like "(not) any" and before adjectives just functions the same as "des" (and can usually be replaced by "des" in most contexts aside from very formal stuff)
After "beaucoup" etc is the same as here, it's the preposition "de" so if you're not talking about a specific thing you have "de des" which is ugly so it stays as de

[urban pier]

yeah I get that

[random solar]

Usually when a noun doesn't take an article it's more just a question of being idiomatic

Like, expressions and stuff

[urban pier]

yea i guess that makes sense

just doesn't feel right to me yet lol

thank you, you were very helpful :)