Conversation KillersThatNiceMan asks: Have you ever been talking with people down the pub when somebody throws such a complete curveball (Sample WTF moment: "I wonder what it's like to get bummed") that all talk is stopped dead? Tell us!
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Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 12 May 2011, 12:53)
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I hate to weigh in to someone else's argument, but......my french grammar book says this:
In the case of compound nous (Noun1 + Preposition + Noun2) the second noun, connected to the first noun by a preposition, is usually not preceded by an article.
une verre de vin - a glass of wine
une tasse de café - a cup of coffee
une guide d'ordinateur - a computer guide
une histoire d'amour - a love story
une salle de bains - a bathroom
It says "usually", but the examples given are all perfectly normal. No-one would ever dream of saying 'une salle des bains', or 'une histoire de l'amour' (or they might, but it would have another meaning).
(, Thu 19 May 2011, 10:39, 1 reply)
You don't hate it. You love it. You slag.Both general forms (noun preposition noun and noun preposition article noun) are common but as you (or your book) say, the literal meaning is different. My medium-fat Larousse gives a couple of dozen examples of each form just for the word esprit.
Thus quoth the wordnerds of expressio.fr:
www.expressio.fr/expressions/avoir-l-esprit-de-l-escalier.php
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Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 19 May 2011, 10:53,
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