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What is the capital of Tunisia?

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What is the capital of Tunisia?

Using “de” or “en” to indicate that an object is made out of some material

The correct words are:

Un verre en cristal

(Because Un verre de cristal would mean it is full of crystal, like un verre d’eau).

Une veste en cuir

(Both could be accepted, but Une veste de cuir is almost a tongue twister and Une veste en cuir is pronounced Une vest’en cuir).

If you are looking for a general rule, I’m sorry, but it depends. Usually, you can say both and you will be understood, but there are (as always) exceptions. Your first example is one.

As everyone already said, both are allowed.

The only difference between the usage of de/en I found is here (french link), and is about the figurative language.

In figurative language, we preferably use de, except (french language speciality) in the expression en or.

Un cœur de pierre, une patte de velours.

Un cœur en or.

I would also say that both are acceptable answers and at least in spoken French, there is really no rule. A few more examples:

Un piège de cristal (figurative)

Un pont de pierre (non-figurative)

Une table en bois

La rockeuse de diamants (figurative)

Une occasion en or (figurative)

Des jambes de / en feu (I think de is better there)

Une défense en carton

Hope this helps!

Both de and en can introduce a complément circonstanciel de matière.
The Trésor de la langue française says that en is more strongly attached to a material than de (En marque plus précisément la matière que de.)

  • de belongs to a higher level of language : épingles d’or; bulles d’air; pièces d’argent
  • only de can be used in figurative speech: un lit de feuilles mortes; un homme de fer; des chevaux de bois (but some exceptions, see below)

    • (Latouche, L’Héritier, Lettres amans, 1821, p. 100).

      Alors commencent ces hémorragies effrayantes, qui font de tous ces malades autant de fontaines de sang

  • de is used in idioms: Un teint de lait; un ciel de plomb; un cœur de pierre; un visage de marbre; un cœur d’or; un regard de feu; un bras de fer etc.

  • en is more common to introduce this material:

    • Beauvoir, Mém. j. fille, 1958 p. 77.

      En fonte, en terre, en grès, en porcelaine, en aluminium, en étain, que de marmites, de poêles, de pot-au-feu, de fait-tout, de cassolettes, de soupières, de plats, de timbales, de passoires, de hachoirs, de moulins, de moules, de mortiers !

  • en is used in figurative speech only in these idioms (except these, de is always used in other figurative speech): un tigre en papier, un garçon en or. Note that the fictive material takes a real aspect here.

    • (Aymé, op. cit., p. 199);

      Ah ! oui, ce qu’il était gentil, hein ? et doux et pas fier. Un garçon en or, ce petit saint François.

 

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What is the capital of Tunisia?