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14

Good answer. Also interesting to note that shopping may or may not be considered an errand depending on whether it is a "task" - doing the weekly grocery shopping is very likely an errand, but leisurely spending the afternoon at the mall probably is not.
– Nuclear Hoagie
Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 18:38
3

@NuclearHoagie - if I do my own or my family's shopping, that is not an errand, but if my mother asks me to go out and get her some gin and cigarettes, that is an errand.
– Michael Harvey
Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 20:22
6

The trouble with using course is that faire les courses usually means to go shopping. That is presumably the reason the question was asked in the first place – des/les courses can mean either errands or shopping according to context.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Commented Mar 21, 2023 at 10:38
8

@MichaelHarvey why? You can run errands for yourself. Many dictionaries include wording along the lines of "often for someone else" (my emphasis). Doing so on behalf of someone else even seems (Collins) predominantly American. So if I had to get some shopping, send a parcel, and pick up a book from the library, all in one trip, that would be running errands.
– Chris H
Commented Mar 21, 2023 at 12:25
5

@MichaelHarvey also disagree; as a native British English speaker, I include supermarket shopping for myself in "errands".
– Muzer
Commented Mar 21, 2023 at 15:47

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