Breakdown of L'enfant se méfie des ciseaux et de la laque.
l'enfant
the child
et
and
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
se méfier de
to beware of / to be suspicious of
la laque
the hairspray
les ciseaux
the scissors
Questions & Answers about L'enfant se méfie des ciseaux et de la laque.
Why do we say de la laque instead of just et la laque?
In French, the prepositions à, de, and en must be repeated before every single item in a list. Because the verb se méfier (to be suspicious) is followed by de, you have to use de again before la laque. In English, we can just say "of the scissors and the hairspray," but French requires this repetition.
Why is it des ciseaux instead of de les ciseaux?
The preposition de always contracts with the definite articles le and les. Since ciseaux (scissors) is plural, de combines with les to form the mandatory contraction des. However, de never contracts with la, which is why de la laque remains two separate words.
Does the verb se méfier always require the preposition de?
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