Learn French: Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence. - You save fuel instead of buying gasoline.

Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence.

You save fuel instead of buying gasoline.

Breakdown of Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence.

vous

you (plural/formal)

of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)

acheter

to buy

some (partitive, masculine)

Questions & Answers about Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence.

Why does the French use the infinitive acheter when the English translation says "buying"?

In English, we use "instead of" followed by an "-ing" verb. In French, prepositions like de (which is part of au lieu de) are always followed by the infinitive form of the verb. So, "instead of buying" translates to au lieu d'acheter.

Why is there an apostrophe in au lieu d'acheter?

The fixed expression for "instead of" is au lieu de. However, because the following verb, acheter, starts with a vowel, the de must drop its -e and become d' to make the pronunciation smoother.

I learned that the verb for "to save" is sauver. Why does this sentence use économiser?

In French, the verb for "save" changes depending on the context. You use sauver when rescuing someone or something from danger (like saving a life). You use économiser when you are conserving money, resources, or energy, which is exactly what you do with carburant (fuel).

The English translation just says "fuel" and "gasoline". Why are du and de l' added before those words in French?