Je déteste faire la vaisselle après le dîner.

I hate doing the dishes after dinner.

Breakdown of Je déteste faire la vaisselle après le dîner.

• je: I
• après: after
• le dîner: the dinner
• détester: to hate
• faire la vaisselle: to do the dishes

Questions & Answers about Je déteste faire la vaisselle après le dîner.

Why do we say faire la vaisselle and not just Je déteste la vaisselle?

In French, la vaisselle by itself is the set of dishes (plates, glasses, etc.), not the activity of washing them.

• Je déteste la vaisselle would mean something like "I hate dishes" (as objects).
• Faire la vaisselle is an idiomatic expression meaning "to do the dishes / to wash the dishes", i.e. the chore.

So to talk about the activity, you almost always need faire:
Je déteste faire la vaisselle. = I hate doing the dishes.

Why is there la before vaisselle? Why not just Je déteste faire vaisselle?

In French, most nouns need an article (definite, indefinite, or partitive). You can’t usually leave it out the way you sometimes can in English.

Here, la vaisselle uses the definite article la because:

• it refers to the dishes in general as a type of chore, not specific individual plates, and
• the fixed expression is faire la vaisselle, not faire vaisselle.

So:

• ✅ faire la vaisselle (correct, idiomatic)
• ❌ faire vaisselle (sounds wrong to a native speaker)

Is vaisselle singular or plural? Why not les vaisselles?

Vaisselle is a singular, feminine noun: la vaisselle.

It refers collectively to all the dishes (plates, glasses, cutlery, etc.) in a meal. You don’t normally pluralize it in everyday speech.

Compare:

• Je fais la vaisselle. = I’m doing the dishes (all of them).
• Il y a beaucoup de vaisselle. = There are a lot of dishes.

You could technically say les vaisselles, but that would be unusual and would sound like you’re talking about separate sets or loads of dishes in a very specific context (for example, talking about different sets of china). For the household chore, it stays singular: la vaisselle.

Why is it faire after Je déteste? Why not Je déteste fais la vaisselle?

After verbs expressing likes and dislikes (such as aimer, adorer, préférer, détester), French normally uses the infinitive for the second verb.

So you say:

• Je déteste faire la vaisselle. (infinitive faire)
• J’aime lire.
• Nous préférons regarder un film.

You cannot conjugate the second verb here:

• ❌ Je déteste fais la vaisselle.

Think of détester faire as one unit: to hate doing.

Should there be a preposition after déteste, like Je déteste de faire la vaisselle or Je déteste à faire la vaisselle?

No. Détester is used directly with an infinitive, without a preposition.

Correct:

• ✅ Je déteste faire la vaisselle.

Incorrect:

• ❌ Je déteste de faire la vaisselle.
• ❌ Je déteste à faire la vaisselle.

Some other verbs do require a preposition before an infinitive (for example commencer à, essayer de), but détester does not.

What is the difference between Je déteste faire la vaisselle and Je n’aime pas faire la vaisselle?

Both talk about a negative feeling, but the strength is different:

• Je n’aime pas faire la vaisselle.
  = I don’t like doing the dishes.
  This is relatively neutral: you don’t enjoy it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean strong hatred.

• Je déteste faire la vaisselle.
  = I hate doing the dishes.
  This is stronger and more emotional; it suggests you really can’t stand it.

So détester is more intense than ne pas aimer.

Why is it après le dîner and not après dîner? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but they are not used in exactly the same way.

1. après le dîner

   • dîner is a noun here, with the article le.
   • Literally: after the dinner.
   • Very clear and neutral:
     Je déteste faire la vaisselle après le dîner.

2. après dîner

   • dîner is used more like a verb-noun (similar to English after dinner without the).
   • Also means after dinner and sounds a bit more idiomatic/shorter in speech:
     Je déteste faire la vaisselle après dîner.

Both are correct in standard French. Après le dîner may feel slightly more formal or explicit; après dîner is a common, natural alternative.

What is the difference between dîner as a noun and as a verb?

Dîner can be both:

1. Noun (masculine):

   • le dîner = dinner / the evening meal
     Example:
     Le dîner est prêt. = Dinner is ready.

2. Verb:

   • dîner = to have dinner / to eat dinner
     Example:
     Nous dînons à huit heures. = We have dinner at eight o’clock.

In your sentence:

• après le dîner → dîner is a noun (with le).
• If you said Après avoir dîné, je fais la vaisselle, there dîné is the past participle of the verb dîner.

How do you pronounce déteste, and why is the final -e not pronounced?

Déteste is pronounced roughly: [day-TEST].

• dé- sounds like day.
• -teste sounds like test, with a clear t at the end.
• The final written -e in déteste is silent in standard French; it mainly affects the rhythm (it keeps three syllables: dé-tes-te, but the last vowel is very weak or not clearly pronounced in isolation).

It’s the je form of the verb détester in the present tense:

• je déteste [day-TEST]
• tu détestes, il/elle déteste are pronounced the same.

Why is it Je déteste and not J’déteste, like J’aime?

In French, you use elision (dropping the e of je and writing j’) only before a word starting with a vowel or mute h:

• J’aime, j’adore, j’habite, j’écoute.

But déteste begins with a consonant sound (d), so there is no elision:

• ✅ Je déteste.
• ❌ J’déteste.

So the rule is:

• je
  • vowel sound → j’ (j’aime)
• je
  • consonant sound → je (je déteste)