Question 1

Why does this sentence use quelques-unes instead of quelques-uns or just quelques?

Accepted Answer

Quelques-unes is an indefinite pronoun meaning "a few of them", so it replaces the noun completely. It must agree with the noun it replaces, which in this case is truffes (a feminine noun). If you were talking about masculine items, like champignons (mushrooms), you would use quelques-uns. You can't use just quelques because that is an adjective that must be followed directly by a noun, as in quelques truffes.

Question 2

If it means "a few of them", why don't we need the pronoun en here?

Accepted Answer

If you wrote the second half of the sentence as a full clause with a verb, you would absolutely need en: j'en ai acheté quelques-unes (I bought a few of them). However, here juste quelques-unes is simply a short, verbless afterthought. Without a verb to attach the pronoun to, you cannot use en, so quelques-unes handles the full meaning on its own.

Question 3

How is quelques-unes pronounced? Do I pronounce the "s"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but only the first one! There is a mandatory liaison between the two words. The usually silent -s at the end of quelques links to the vowel in unes, creating a "z" sound in the middle. The final -s on unes, however, is completely silent.

Question 4

Can I use juste to mean "just" or "only" like in English?

Accepted Answer

Yes, using juste as an adverb to mean "only" or "just" is extremely common and natural in everyday spoken French. While you could also use seulement here, juste is shorter and fits this kind of conversational afterthought perfectly.

J'ai acheté des truffes, juste quelques-unes.

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