ELONIO
Log inSign up

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

Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence.
You save fuel instead of buying gasoline.
From Lesson 230:Alternatives (au lieu de)·French

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?
In English, we often drop the word "some" before uncountable nouns, but in French, you cannot leave a noun without an article. You must use a partitive article to express an unspecified quantity. Since carburant is masculine, it takes du, and since essence starts with a vowel, it takes de l'.

Learn Vous économisez du carburant au lieu d'acheter de l'essence and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →