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Certains déchets peuvent être compressés ou incinérés.

Certains déchets peuvent être compressés ou incinérés.
Some waste can be compressed or incinerated.
From Lesson 387:Passive voice with modal verbs (pouvoir / devoir être)·French

Questions & Answers about Certains déchets peuvent être compressés ou incinérés.

How is the passive voice formed with the modal verb in this sentence?
To use the passive voice with a modal verb like pouvoir (can), you conjugate the modal verb, add the infinitive être (to be), and then add the past participle of the main action. Here, we have the conjugated peuvent, the infinitive être, and the past participles compressés and incinérés.
Why do the past participles compressés and incinérés end with an -s?
In the passive voice, the past participle always acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. Because déchets is a masculine plural noun, both past participles take the plural -s ending.
Why is déchets plural in French when the English translation uses the singular word waste?
In English, waste in the sense of garbage is an uncountable, singular noun. In French, un déchet is a countable noun referring to a single piece of trash. Therefore, to talk about waste in general, French uses the plural form les déchets.
What is the difference between using Certains and Quelques for the word some in this context?
Quelques focuses on a small quantity, meaning a few. Certains distinguishes a specific group from a larger whole, meaning certain types of. Using Certains déchets emphasizes that this process applies to specific kinds of waste, whereas others might need different treatment.

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