Learn French: La forêt est dégradée, donc nous devons planter davantage. - The forest is degraded, so we must plant more.

La forêt est dégradée, donc nous devons planter davantage.

The forest is degraded, so we must plant more.

Breakdown of La forêt est dégradée, donc nous devons planter davantage.

être

to be

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about La forêt est dégradée, donc nous devons planter davantage.

Why did we use davantage instead of plus here?

Both davantage and plus mean "more" and can be used interchangeably here. Davantage is slightly more formal and often preferred at the end of a sentence because it sounds elegant and avoids the tricky pronunciation rules of the word plus.

Could I say planter davantage de instead?

No. You only use davantage de (or plus de) when you are directly specifying what there is more of, followed by a noun (for example, davantage d'arbres for "more trees"). Because "more" here modifies the verb planter and isn't followed by a noun, you must drop the de.

If I chose to say planter plus, would I pronounce the "s" at the end of plus?

Yes! When plus means a positive "more" and comes at the very end of a phrase, you pronounce the "s" (it sounds like "plooss"). This is exactly why many French speakers prefer to use davantage at the end of a sentence—it completely bypasses the mental gymnastics of whether or not to pronounce that "s"!

Why does dégradée have an extra "e" at the end?