invicta5

[balmy panther]

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.

[acoustic surge]

it's not « l'argent »
it's « de l'argent »

it's the partitive article
much like "du", "de la", and "des"

In English it would be rendered as "some" or "ø"

[fallow olive]

Unless I'm confused, I think the question is why we say ' gagner de l'argent' instead of 'gagner d'argent'.

With it being earning some money (de/de la etc.) and not the money (le/la).

[acoustic surge]

well OP said "specific money"
if it were specific money, it would be "gagner l'argent"
(which doesn't make much sense unless we specify some specific money.. like 'l'argent qu'on me devait' or something like that)

in this case, it's non-specific, so it needs to be partitive

[fallow olive]

Just so it was mentioned: because 'argent' starts with a vowel, the partitive article turns into de l'.

(Instead of 'du argent' or shortening to 'd'argent'.)

[solemn parrot]

L'argent isn't just specific money but also general money.
De l'argent notes some unspecified amount of said general money.