Question 1

Why is it d'objets and not des objets?

Accepted Answer

In French, the plural article des changes to de or d' after a negative verb. Since the sentence uses ne... pas, des objets (objects) becomes d'objets.

Question 2

Since this lesson is about ne... que (only), how would I use it here to say "only accumulate useful objects"?

Accepted Answer

You would drop pas and place que before the restriction: n'accumulez que des objets utiles. Notice that with ne... que, we use des instead of d'. This is because ne... que is a restriction meaning "only", not a true negative, so the article doesn't change!

Question 3

Why is alléger in the infinitive form here?

Accepted Answer

When you use the preposition pour to express a purpose or goal (meaning "in order to"), it must be followed directly by an unconjugated verb in its infinitive form.

Question 4

Why does the sentence use qui instead of que for "that clutter"?

Accepted Answer

You use qui when the word it refers back to is the subject of the next verb. Here, the objects are doing the cluttering (encombrent), so they are the subject. You would use que when there is a different subject right after it (for example, "des objets que j'achète" - objects that I buy).

Question 5

Is the verb alléger related to the adjective léger (light)?

Accepted Answer

Exactly! Léger means "light" (in weight). By adding the prefix a- and the verb ending -er, French creates alléger, meaning "to lighten" or "to make lighter".

Pour alléger l'appartement, n'accumulez pas d'objets qui encombrent.

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