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"(Why English is article-free for the other meaning is beyond the scope of this site.)" as OP is comparing two different languages, want to migrate this question to linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/french?user196584– user1965842025-11-08 18:23:04 +00:00Commented Nov 8, 2025 at 18:23
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@user196584 Or perhaps it could be asked separately there, with this answer giving the practical French learner's perspective (which I assumed OP most wanted) and the one on Lin SE giving a fuller theoretical explanation.Luke Sawczak– Luke Sawczak ♦2025-11-08 22:49:59 +00:00Commented Nov 8, 2025 at 22:49
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Yes, sure, predicates but lots of other cases. As a general rule, nouns in French require articles regardless of where they appear in a sentence.Lambie– Lambie2025-11-09 16:30:16 +00:00Commented Nov 9, 2025 at 16:30
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In English, the adage generally goes Money can't buy happiness. Why can't? Probably because in English, can't isn't any longer than doesn't. While in French, l'argent ne peut pas faire le bonheur is longer than, and has one more verb than l'argent ne fait pas le bonheur.Peter Shor– Peter Shor2025-11-10 01:36:16 +00:00Commented Nov 10, 2025 at 1:36
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@PeterShor Good observation. I've distinguished the idiomatic and literal translations in this edit.Luke Sawczak– Luke Sawczak ♦2025-11-10 01:57:23 +00:00Commented Nov 10, 2025 at 1:57
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