FR: This is blackmail - article

[Nero Wolf]

Hi everyone!

1. "C'est un chantage."
2. "C'est de la chantage."

In English we just say "This is blackmail", zero article. So French non-countable nouns are tricky.

I see #1 all the time, but to me #2 (de la) also makes sense.

Is one of them preferable or altogether wrong?

Thank you!

 

[Locape]

Hello and welcome to WR, @Nero Wolf!
'Chantage' is masculine in French, so your #2 is incorrect. I would say 'C'est du chantage' for 'This is blackmail'.

 

[Nero Wolf]

Thank you, Locape.

I am very sorry: of course it's "du chantage". I missed it.

Just to confirm: I can say either "c'est du chantage" or "c'est un chantage"?

 

[Maître Capello]

I can't think of any context where the indefinite article would make sense – unless the noun chantage is qualified with an adjective or a relative clause. In a nutshell:

C'est du chantage.
C'est un chantage.
C'est un chantage flagrant.

 

[Nero Wolf]

Merci pour votre aide!

P.S. Incidentally, I have heard a (educated) French person in an interview recently say, "C'est un chantage" (with respect to the pass sanitaire situation in France), hence my question. Perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue on his part.

 

[OLN]

If not something along the lines of "C'est un véritable chantage"/ "C'est un chantage caractérisé/flagrant", they probably meant "C'est une forme de chantage".
They also might have mixed it with "C'est un scandale" in the grip of emotion.