Questions & Answers about Nous avons de la chance avec ce professeur.
Why does the French sentence use avons (have) instead of a word for 'are'?
In French, you don't say you 'are lucky'. Instead, you use the expression avoir de la chance, which literally translates to 'to have some luck'. Since the subject is nous (we), we use avons (have). How would I say 'We are not lucky' based on the rules in this lesson?
You would say Nous n'avons pas de chance avec ce professeur. In a negative sentence, the partitive article de la changes to just de (meaning 'no' or 'not any'). This is the absolute negation rule you are currently learning! What does the de la actually do before chance?
It is a partitive article, which acts a bit like the English word 'some'. Because luck (chance) is an uncountable concept, French requires this article before it. Since chance is a feminine noun, we use de la. Why is it ce professeur and not cette or cet?
The word ce means 'this' or 'that' for masculine nouns that start with a consonant, like professeur. If the masculine word started with a vowel, you would use cet, and for feminine nouns you would use cette. Learn Nous avons de la chance avec ce professeur and more in French
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