noms comptables
The English phrase "countable nouns" is translated into French as noms comptables.
noms comptables refers to nouns that name things that can be counted as individual units.
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of noms (nouns) and comptables (countable/accountable).
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of the phrase is nom comptable. The phrase noms comptables is masculine plural, meaning both the noun and the adjective end in -s. When using articles with these nouns, remember that un is a masculine indefinite article, une is a feminine indefinite article, le is a masculine definite article and la is a feminine definite article. To express an unspecified quantity, you might use the masculine partitive article du or the feminine partitive article de la. For demonstration, you can use the masculine demonstrative determiner ce or the feminine demonstrative determiner cette.
Did you know?
- Some nouns change meaning entirely depending on whether they are treated as noms comptables. For example, un poisson is 'a fish', but du poisson refers to 'fish' as a food substance.
- While 'countable' in English implies the ability to count, the French comptable can also mean 'accountable' or 'liable' in a legal sense, such as being responsible for an error.
- In French, the noun nom serves a double purpose as both the grammatical term for 'noun' and the everyday word for a person's 'name'.
Examples in context
- J'ai acheté une pomme.I bought an apple.
- Je vais acheter des pommes.I'm going to buy some apples.
- J'aime bien ces baskets, je vais les acheter.I really like those sneakers, I'm going to buy them.
- Les pommes sont des noms comptables.Apples are countable nouns.
- Je ne comprends pas la règle des noms comptables.I do not understand the rule for countable nouns.
- Cette liste contient uniquement des noms comptables.This list contains only countable nouns.
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are studying French grammar together.
- LucasC'est quoi un nom comptable ?What is a countable noun?
- ManonCe sont les noms comptables qu'on peut compter.They are the countable nouns that we can count.
- LucasComme les pommes ou les livres ?Like apples or books?
- ManonOui, Lucas, exactement !Yes, Lucas, exactly!
