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Le singe mange des bananes.

Le singe mange des bananes.
The monkey eats bananas.
From Lesson 260:Animals and the countryside·French

Breakdown of Le singe mange des bananes.

manger
to eat
la banane
the banana
le singe
the monkey

Questions & Answers about Le singe mange des bananes.

Why do we use des bananes instead of les bananes?
Even though English just says "bananas," in French you almost always need an article before a noun. Because the monkey is eating an unspecified quantity of them (some bananas), we use the plural indefinite article des. If the sentence were about his general tastes, like "The monkey likes bananas," you would use the definite article les (Le singe aime les bananes).
Could le singe mean "monkeys" in general here?
French does sometimes use the singular definite article (le or la) to talk about a whole species. However, with a specific, active verb like mange, it usually refers to one specific monkey. To say "Monkeys eat bananas" in general, you would normally just make both the noun and the verb plural: Les singes mangent des bananes.
How does this sentence change if the monkey does not eat bananas?
It becomes Le singe ne mange pas de bananes. This is a great reminder of a classic rule: in a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d' before a vowel).
Singe ends in an "-e". Why isn't it feminine?
While it is true that many French words ending in "-e" are feminine, there is no absolute rule, and singe is a common masculine exception. This is why it is highly recommended to always memorize a new noun alongside its article (le singe) so the gender becomes second nature.

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