Times when the definite/partitive article isn't used.

Hi there

I'm learning French using a book called "Using French".

There have been a few sentences in which nouns have not been preceded by the definite or partitive article.

Here is one example:

La cuisine est une façon de réunir femmes et hommes autour u’dun table pour oublier, le temps d’un repas, leur querelles.

What's the reason for not using the definite/partitive article in this sentence? Are there any other instances when the articles should be omitted?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on June 8, 2013 at 2:49pm

In this specific case, this is essentially a literary construction. In everyday use, it would be quite normal to say les hommes et les femmes..., or les hommes comme les femmes.... But essentually, when you're saying, "X and likewise Y", there does exist the possibility of omitting the articles-- as I say, I think it's fair to say that this happens in fairly literary use and it's not something that a lot of French speakers would say in ordinary conversation. So in this case, it's not so much that the article "should" be omitted but more that it's an option to create a particular stylistic effect.

Other key cases include:

- the preposition en isn't ordinarily used with an article, so you end up either with fixed expressions not using the article (e.g. mettre en soute = to put in the hold), or else you change en to another preposition (typically dans or occasionally other appropriate choices e.g. pendant, durant...);

- some cases of "apposition" where you are basically putting two noun phrases together and 'equating' one with the other, e.g. many speakers wouldn't use the article in this case:

Jean Maurel, (?un) médecin réputé depuis 20 ans, a développé un nouveau remède.

or in these related cases:

Le quartier a été déclaré (?une) zone sensible.

Il est devenu/On a nommé Jean (?le) maire de la ville.

An informal way of seeing this might be that if you can imagine putting 'mental quotation marks' round the noun phrase, there will be a tendency not to use an article. However, I should say that usage appears to be changing in some of these cases, and in some cases you will find the article used.