J’achète des légumes frais au marché le samedi.

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Breakdown of J’achète des légumes frais au marché le samedi.

• le marché: the market
• acheter: to buy
• des: some
• le légume: the vegetable
• frais: fresh
• à: at
• le: on
• le samedi: the Saturday

Questions & Answers about J’achète des légumes frais au marché le samedi.

Why is des used instead of les in this sentence?

In French, des is the indefinite article (plural) that often translates to "some" in English. Because we're talking about vegetables in a general sense (not specific or previously mentioned vegetables), des is the correct choice. If we said les, that would refer to specific vegetables already known to both the speaker and the listener.

Why do we say au marché rather than à le marché or dans le marché?

When the preposition à is followed by the masculine article le, they contract to become au. For places like a market, you use au to indicate "at" or "to" that place. Saying dans le marché would emphasize being physically inside the market building, while au marché is the general expression to mean you're going to or buying at the market.

What is the difference between frais and fraîche, and why use frais here?

Frais (masculine) and fraîche (feminine) are forms of the same adjective meaning "fresh." Since légumes (vegetables) is a masculine plural noun, the adjective that modifies it should be in its masculine plural form, which is also frais (same spelling as the singular masculine but pronounced differently in the plural context).

Why do we say le samedi and not just samedi?

When discussing a regular occurrence happening on a particular day of the week in French, you typically use le before the day. Le samedi means "on Saturdays" in a habitual sense. Without le, samedi would often refer to just one particular Saturday.

Can I say J’achète mes légumes frais au marché le samedi instead?

Yes, you can. However, mes légumes specifies that they are your vegetables or the vegetables you regularly buy. Using des légumes keeps it general: it indicates you're buying some vegetables without specifying ownership. Both forms are correct, but des is more neutral and commonly used in this general context.