My book says Wechselt den Platz! or Change your seat! (plural) is said Changez de place!. I'm confused by it suggesting de which means from or of to me. I would have used le or votre instead. Are my suggestions correct as well and which one is the way for a native speaker to go?


In French we often use "Changer de [something]" which basically means "Replace [something] by another [something]". For instance, we would say "Je vais changer de verre, celui-ci sent mauvais".

In this case another sentence with the same meaning would be "Go sit somewhere else" (may vary a bit depending on the exact context).

  • I realize that you are here to answer Peasant's question and not mine, but if you don't mind: Would one ever use “changer DE” in combination with “changer … en mieux” to suggest to “improve your seat” to get: “Changez DE place en mieux” or could you use “Changez VOTRE place en mieux” in that case (or some completely different verb and/or structure)? – Papa Poule Nov 17 '14 at 23:59
  • Yes it could be possible as well. "Changer de" just means you're replacing the current one, but the reason you're replacing it could be the convenience, the improvement, ... One example that would fit your case would be "Je vais changer de voiture" (implying the current car is old or broken), it is still correct ;) – Cédric D Nov 18 '14 at 9:05
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    Changer de implies that you own the thing “somehow”. – Stéphane Gimenez Nov 18 '14 at 10:56

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