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L'usine produit de la pollution.

L'usine produit de la pollution.
The factory produces pollution.
From Lesson 121:Comparing quantities of nouns (plus de... que)·French

Questions & Answers about L'usine produit de la pollution.

Why is it de la pollution instead of just pollution?
In French, you usually cannot have a noun without an article in front of it. Because pollution is an uncountable noun (you cannot count 'one pollution, two pollutions'), we use the feminine partitive article de la to mean 'some' pollution.
How would this sentence change to say the factory produces more pollution?
You would use the comparative of quantity plus de (more), making the sentence: L'usine produit plus de pollution.
Wait, since pollution is feminine (de la pollution), why wouldn't it be plus de la pollution?
This is a very common trap! When you use a comparative quantity phrase like plus de (more), moins de (less), or autant de (as much), the article (la, le, or les) disappears. It is always just de (or d') plus the noun, regardless of the noun's gender.
What verb is produit from?
It comes from the irregular verb produire (to produce). It is useful to recognize because other common verbs ending in -uire like traduire (to translate) and conduire (to drive) all follow the exact same pattern: je produis, tu produis, il/elle produit.

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