One common error made by learners of English is the tendency to use adjectives as nouns.
Consider the following example;
A customer is visiting a car showroom and looking at cars of different colours. In French, the customer can say to the salesperson;
‘Moi, je préfère la rouge’
Note that where in French, when it is clear what you are referring to, you don’t need to mention its name, the adjective can act as a noun, i.e., you don’t need to say ‘Moi, je préfère la voiture rouge’ because it is already clear that you are talking about ‘cars’. So, in French it is simply a case of omitting the noun and treating the adjective ‘rouge’ as the noun.
In English, as is the case with the French, it is obvious that the topic of discussion is ‘cars’, so there’s no need to say ‘I prefer the red car’. However, unlike in French, in English we do not usually say ‘I prefer the red’ because this sounds like an unfinished sentence. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the omitted noun with another noun. So, in English, the customer would say;
‘I prefer the red one’
Other examples of removing the noun and replacing it with an adjective in French, where in English we would substitute the noun, are shown here;
Le grand = the large one
Le plus grand = the biggest one / the bigger one
Le plus heureux = the happiest one
La dernière = the last one
The same applies to when we refer to a ‘thing’. Although in French you can say ‘la chose la plus importante c’est..’, you can drop the noun ‘la chose’ and say simply ‘le plus important c’est’. In English we cannot say ‘the most important is…’, it is necessary to include the noun, ‘the most important thing is…’.
So, the most important thing is that you try to remember this rule next time you’re speaking to your English friends!
Bye for now!
Martin
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