# FR: I like cake/fruit - singular / plural



## zapspan

Pour traduire "I like cake" sans préciser la sorte de gâteau que j'aime, est-ce qu'on dirait "J'aime le gâteau" ou "J'aime les gâteaux"?  Et pour traduire "I like fruit", est-ce "J'aime le fruit" ou "J'aime les fruits"?

Ou est-ce qu'on peut utiliser les deux options, et le pluriel implique "sortes de":  J'aime les gâteaux = J'aime différentes sortes de gâteaux // J'aime les fruits = J'aime différentes sortes de fruit(s)?

Merci d'avance.


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## SwissPete

Interesting question!

I am not sure about gâteau, but I would say « J'aime le fromage » and « J'aime les fruits ».

Go figure.


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## zapspan

Thanks for your help (once again!), SwissPete.

I suspect it may have something to do with which nouns act as count nouns and which ones act as mass nouns. Somehow, "fruits" is acting like a plural mass noun (along the lines of épinards and céréales, perhaps?).  Would you say "J'ai mangé beaucoup de fruit" or "J'ai mangé beaucoup de fruits"?  Or are both ok, and the second one refers to a bunch of whole fruits (as opposed to chopped up pieces)?


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## Lly4n4

Définitivement "J'aime le fromage / la viande / le poisson / la pastèque / l'ananas / la pizza / la soupe", mais "J'aime les fruits / les gâteaux / les bonbons / les pâtes / les céréales / les cerises / les pêches".


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## Maître Capello

zapspan said:


> I suspect it may have something to do with which nouns act as count nouns and which ones act as mass nouns.


Actually, _gâteau, fruit, ananas, fromage, pizza_, etc. can all be used either as count nouns or mass nouns depending on context.

The singular is usually used because it refers to the generic type, but we sometimes use the plural, typically when talking about several specific kinds (possibly implied).

_J'aime le fromage / la viande / la viande rouge / le poisson / le chocolat / la glace à la fraise_… (generic or single specific type)
_J'aime les fromages à pâte dure / les poissons d'eau douce / les glaces / les fruits / les légumes_… (several specific types)

That being said, you often have the choice:

_J'aime le gâteau / l'ananas / la pizza_…
_J'aime les gâteaux / les ananas / les pizza_…


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## zapspan

But what's interesting (and difficult from a non-native speaker point of view) is knowing which nouns can occur in both singular and plural in such cases.  For example, I would have thought that _J'aime le fruit_ would be fine, based on _I like fruit_, but it appears that only the plural _J'aime les fruits_ works.  And also, the exact connotation of singular vs. plural in those cases when both are allowed may not always be as straightforward as your very helpful generalization.

In any case, thank you so much, Maître Capello, and thank you to Lly4n4 as well.


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## Lly4n4

Je cherchais une application à l'explication de Maître Capello, et j'en suis arrivée à me dire que je faisais automatiquement le même distingo avec le verbe "manger" intercalé. 

I don't know if it would be easier for you zapspan:
_J'aime manger de la viande / du poisson /  de l'ananas. 
J'aime manger des fruits, des glaces, des fraises, les poissons d'eau douce. _


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## cougenv

moi, j'aime la patisserie !


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## zapspan

As a related question:

J'ai mangé de la crevette vs. J'ai mangé des crevettes
The 2nd one seems much more common based on Google, and I suppose it's because shrimp are served whole rather than as a substance.  The first one does show up on some websites, but I would be curious to know if any native speakers find it normal at all.  Merci.


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## Maître Capello

cougenv said:


> moi, j'aime la patisserie !


Oui, mais le pluriel est également possible et je dirais même plus courant. 

_J'aime la pâtisserie_ 
_J'aime les pâtisseries_ 

En outre, il y a une ambiguïté au singulier :

_J'aime la pâtisserie_ = J'aime *le goût* des pâtisseries / J'aime *manger* des pâtisseries / J'aime *faire* de la pâtisserie / J'aime *le magasin* où l'on vend des pâtisseries


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## publicite

zapspan said:


> As a related question:
> 
> J'ai mangé de la crevette vs. J'ai mangé des crevettes
> The 2nd one seems much more common based on Google, and I suppose it's because shrimp are served whole rather than as a substance.  The first one does show up on some websites, but I would be curious to know if any native speakers find it normal at all.  Merci.



You're 100% right
Most of the time you would eat whole shrimps so "j'ai mangé des crevettes" but it can happen that you eat a shrimpy-substance and then you would say "J'ai mangé de la crevette"


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## zapspan

Merci beaucoup, publicite.  I was hoping that this was the case.  Is this also the case for "crabe" and "homard", by the way?  Or are these used more often with the partitive (du) instead of the plural (des)?


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## publicite

If you can eat "des homards" or "des crabes" you're damn rich (and hungry) 
For these you use "du", ie "j'ai mangé du homard/crabe" (a part of a whole one)


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## zapspan

Thanks. What you say makes perfect sense.


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## zapspan

A couple more specific examples that I'm not sure about:

J'aime la pastèque / les pastèques?
J'aime la papaye / les papayes?

Merci d'avance.


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## publicite

La pastèque, la papaye


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## Maître Capello

zapspan said:


> J'aime la pastèque / les pastèques?
> J'aime la papaye / les papayes?


Both are possible but the singular is more common.


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## zapspan

Merci encore une fois, Maîre Capello.


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## zapspan

Another related question... J'aime la tarte or J'aime les tartes - are they both ok? [assuming that I don't mention the type of pie]


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## Oddmania

Hi,

I think both are okay, but the plural comes infinitely more naturally to me (because there isn't only one pie or cake recipe). The singular never comes naturally to me with _gâteau _or _tarte_, because when you say _J'aime le gâteau _OR _la tarte_, you compel the person you're talking to to picture you eating *one *type of cake or *one *type of pie. But the thing is, there are many, many types of them. So in the end, the person can't create any mental picture and have no idea what you're talking about.

On the other hand, the singular would have my preference if you mentioned _J'aime la tarte *à la fraise*_ (because, if you said _J'aime les tartes à la fraise_, I would picture you eating several strawberry pies at the same time. I could definitely say that, though! It's not uncommon or unnatural, it just makes you sound extra _"gourmand"_).


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## zapspan

Merci beaucoup, Oddmania.


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