using "de" not "le"

i came across this sentence in a dictionary:

De travail en matière de droits de l'homme est si valorisant. (Working in human rights is so rewarding)

i guess "de" is used cuz it's referring to an unspecified body of work but cuz it does specify working in human rights, it is rather specific. could "le" also b correct or is it just more common to use "de travail" when talking about work that's not specified? merci

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 11, 2017 at 1:14pm

As written,I would say that sentence is grammatically incorrect.

"Le" would be fine.

Perhaps your sentence is incomplete or there has been a typo.

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on July 11, 2017 at 2:34pm

it's from the reverso dictionary. i just checked it and it's "de"

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 11, 2017 at 3:27pm

On the internet?

Sow me the link.

I am sure it is wrong

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on July 11, 2017 at 3:49pm

http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/valorisant. hope it works. look at the sentences on the bottom.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 11, 2017 at 4:16pm

I see that. I think it is definitely wrong. Whether "travailler" would work I am not quite sure.

I listened to the voice recording of the sentence and it seems a correct rendition but I still feel it is wrong. (Is he just reading off a card without paying attention? It sounds like a human to me)

You should pose your question on another busier forum frequented by native French speakers and report back to us here.

Unless one of our own native speakers sees this in the next day or so.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on July 16, 2017 at 10:54am

Hi George - It'll be a typo. As far as I'm aware, that "in context" section at the bottom of the reverso pages pulls in samples of text occurring in translations available across the Internet -- they're not necessarily translations that are manually compiled or edited.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 16, 2017 at 5:14pm

Hi Neil

It is very quiet on your site these days. I wonder what happened to all the school age students needing help with their homework attempts.

I have a young Belgian girl staying with us at the moment who is keen to improve her English.

Sometimes I can even catch her out on her French {she thought "vétuste" meant "large" and I am "arguing" with her as to the feminine form of "le pou" which she doubts exists (la puce, I think it is) }

Of course I might be confusing her with my attempts at pronunciation ;)

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on July 18, 2017 at 12:43am

I think we have decided that "une puce" is either a male or female flea (some of these beasts are androgynous)

I am still confused about the genders and plural form of "pou" and "poux" but it is a specialist subject ;)