J'aime le pain.

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Breakdown of J'aime le pain.

• aimer: to like
• le pain: the bread

Questions & Answers about J'aime le pain.

Why is je shortened to j' before aime?

In French, je (I) becomes j' before a vowel sound to make pronunciation smoother. Instead of pronouncing two vowel sounds in a row — je + aime — you drop the e in je and add an apostrophe, forming j'aime.

Why do we use le instead of another article like du here?

French often uses the definite article le (the) when making general statements about likes or preferences. Saying j'aime le pain implies I like bread (in general), not just a certain portion of bread. If you said j'aime du pain, it would sound more like I like some bread (right now), which changes the meaning.

Is it always aime with je, or does the form change?

The verb aimer is a regular -er verb. For je, the form is aime. If you wanted to say you like bread, you’d say tu aimes le pain, with -s at the end of aimes. Other subject pronouns also change the ending (for example, il/elle/on aime, nous aimons, vous aimez, ils/elles aiment).

Do you always need the article le when saying you like something?

Yes, in French, when expressing a general preference or love for something, you typically use the definite article (le, la, les) to refer to the entire category. So you’d say j’aime le pain, j’aime la musique, or j’aime les chats.

Is there a difference between j'aime and j'adore when talking about bread?

Yes, j'aime is I like, while j'adore is I love. In French, j'adore le pain would sound stronger, as though you really love bread. J’aime le pain is typically used to say you like or enjoy bread.