Log inSign up

L'ail est fort mais je l'aime.

L'ail est fort mais je l'aime.
Garlic is strong but I like it.
From Lesson 253:Fruit and vegetables·French

Questions & Answers about L'ail est fort mais je l'aime.

Why does the sentence use l' before ail when the English translation is just "Garlic"?
In French, you must use a definite article (le, la, l', les) when talking about a noun in a general sense. English drops the article to say "Garlic is strong," but French requires it, literally saying "The garlic is strong."
In the phrase je l'aime, what does the l' represent?
It is the direct object pronoun le, meaning "it", standing in for l'ail (garlic). It contracts to l' because aime starts with a vowel. Even though we translate it as "it", French uses masculine and feminine pronouns to match the gender of the noun they replace.
I learned that aimer means "to love" with people. Does je l'aime here mean "I love it" or "I like it"?
When talking about things, foods, or concepts, aimer usually just means "to like." If you want to emphasize that you truly "love" a specific food, you would typically use the verb adorer, as in je l'adore.

Learn L'ail est fort mais je l'aime 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 →