FR: demander de l'aide

[xanana]

In "la maniere de demander de l'aide", at http://linuxfr.org/~khane/5730.html,

why is it not "demander l'aide" ?


A travers depuis plusiers jours, j'ai appris que le regle pour "demander" est comme ça:

>> demander qqch à qqun de infinitif

Donc, l'expression devrait-il être "demander + object direct" ? par. ex. demander un conseille

 

[jean1938]

In french we translate "some" by du, de la (de l'), or des etc...
demander du travail = ask for some work
demander de l'aide = ask for some help
You would not say: ask for the help.
Unless You say it that way:
Ask for the help of somebody = demander l'aide de quelqu'un.

As in english (or any language???) it depends of the context,
how the sentence is done...

some help = de l'aide
the help of someone = l'aide de quelqu'un.

demander des réponses = ask for (some) answers

aide is not a physical object.

demander la pomme = ask for the (an) apple.

demander des pommes = ask for apples

In your example

se tourne vers d'autres linuxiens pour demander de l'aide.

have you not noticed that the sentence stops at the word aide?
As I always say, here we are talking of SOME help IN GENERAL.
Otherwise, you would be more specific and tell
what kind of help you want.: l'aide de quelqu'un.
There is a complement here. It completes the sentence.
It is more PRECISE.

 

[valerie]

yes Jean you are right, here "de" is not a preposition, it is an article, but a partitive article, like in "some help", or "du pain"

In this phrase, "de l'aide" is a complement d'objet direct to the verb demander

 

[xanana]

Merci beaucoup pour tes commentaires.
(...)
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