Learn French: Elle achète des légumes dans ce grand rayon. - She is buying vegetables in this large aisle.

Elle achète des légumes dans ce grand rayon.

She is buying vegetables in this large aisle.

Breakdown of Elle achète des légumes dans ce grand rayon.

some (plural indefinite)

dans

in, inside

Questions & Answers about Elle achète des légumes dans ce grand rayon.

Why is there an accent on the è in achète when the infinitive acheter doesn't have one?

The verb acheter (to buy) is a stem-changing verb. For the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms, the first e changes to an è (grave accent) so the syllable can be pronounced clearly. That is why we write elle achète, but the accent disappears in forms like nous achetons.

Does légumes mean "legumes" (like beans and lentils)?

No, légumes is a false friend! In French, un légume simply means a vegetable (like a carrot or broccoli). If you want to talk about legumes or pulses, you would use a different word, like les légumineuses.

The English translation just says "vegetables." Why is it des légumes instead of les légumes?

In French, nouns almost always need an article. Because she is buying an unspecified amount of vegetables (some vegetables), we use the plural indefinite article des. If the sentence were about vegetables in general, we would use the definite article les, for example: elle aime les légumes (she likes vegetables).

Why is grand placed before rayon instead of after it?