Why a partitive article is not used with "tort" and "raison"

Nezih D.B1Kwiziq community member

Why a partitive article is not used with "tort" and "raison"

chance, tort and raison are all nouns, and we use "de la chance" but it is not the case for tort and raison. 

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Nezih,

It is just the way it is ....

 

to be right = avoir raison

to be wrong= avoir tort 

to be lucky = avoir de la chance (literally to have some luck) 

 

 

Nezih D.B1Kwiziq community member

Hi Cécile

Thank you for answering my question, however this was not what i was looking for. Let me explain in another way. "Tort" is a masculin noun, and avoir a "verb". I would expect the usage should be "avoir du tort", similar to "avoir de la chance". But what i see is, the partitive article "du" is not used here. 

locution verbale: groupe de mots fonctionnant comme un verbe. Ex : "faire référence à"locution verbale: groupe de mots fonctionnant comme un verbe. Ex : "faire référence à"

Nezih D.B1Kwiziq community member

At the bottom of my previous message i added what i found in the online dictionary Word Reference, but i am not sure what does it mean.

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Nezih,

There are other verbal phrases , normally with 'avoir', which have similar constructions to avoir tort/raison without any article -

Avoir peur = to be frightened ( lit. to have fear)

Avoir honte = to be ashamed

Avoir pitié to have mercy

Avoir faim/soif to be hungry/thirsty

Avoir horreur de = to loathe 

so 'avoir de la chance' is a bit of an anomaly...

 

Why a partitive article is not used with "tort" and "raison"

chance, tort and raison are all nouns, and we use "de la chance" but it is not the case for tort and raison. 

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...