Learn French: Plusieurs parieurs ne jouent plus au loto. - Several bettors no longer play the lotto.

Plusieurs parieurs ne jouent plus au loto.

Several bettors no longer play the lotto.

Breakdown of Plusieurs parieurs ne jouent plus au loto.

jouer

to play

to the / at the (masculine singular)

ne... plus

(not) anymore / no longer

plusieurs

several

Questions & Answers about Plusieurs parieurs ne jouent plus au loto.

Why is it au loto instead of du loto?

In French, the verb jouer (to play) uses the preposition à when referring to games, sports, and activities like the lottery (jouer au loto, jouer au tennis). It only uses de when referring to musical instruments (jouer du piano). Here, à plus le loto contracts into au loto.

I often want to say 'several of...' in French. Why is there no de after Plusieurs?

Plusieurs acts directly as an adjective here, meaning 'several,' so it attaches straight to the noun without a preposition: plusieurs parieurs (several bettors). If you wanted to say 'several of the bettors' (referring to a specific, already-known group), you would use plusieurs des parieurs. Just be careful never to use plusieurs de.

What is the root verb for the word parieurs?

It comes from the verb parier, which means 'to bet' or 'to wager'. From this same root, you get the noun un pari (a bet) and the person doing the betting, un parieur or une parieuse.