I can say what I eat and buy, give a quantity, and ask politely: “Je voudrais un kilo de fromage, s'il vous plaît”.
Some: du, de la, des
Some: du, de la, des
English says “I eat bread” with nothing before “bread”. In French a noun almost always has something in front of it, and “some” (not all, and not one item) has its own forms: the partitive article.
The forms are in the table: du for the masculine, de la for the feminine, de l' before a vowel or silent h, des for the plural.
Three articles stand in one row of the table, and the difference is meaning: le — I like it in general, un — I take one item, du — I eat some.
After a negative, all these forms become de, and before a vowel d'. You've already seen this rule with un, une, des: pas de, pas d'.
After a quantity word there's no article either, only de: beaucoup de fruits, un peu de lait, trop de pain, un kilo de légumes, une bouteille d'eau.
A polite request is a set phrase, “I'd like …, please”: Je voudrais …, s'il vous plaît. It's the polite form of vouloir; how it's built comes at the next level, so learn it whole for now. Je veux sounds as blunt as English “I want”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Je mange pain” → Je mange du pain.
• NOT “Je ne mange pas du poisson” → Je ne mange pas de poisson.
• NOT “beaucoup des fruits” → beaucoup de fruits.
• NOT “un kilo du fromage” → un kilo de fromage.
• NOT “J'aime du fromage” → J'aime le fromage.
• NOT “Je veux un café” in a store → Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.
Some: du, de la, de l', des
The word AFTER the article chooses the form: its gender, number, and first letter.
| Gender and number | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | du | Théo achète du pain. |
| feminine | de la | Léa mange de la viande. |
| before a vowel and h | de l' | Julie prend de l'eau. |
| plural | des | Lucas achète des légumes. |
| three articles in one list | le · un · du | J'aime le pain. · Je prends un pain. · Je mange du pain. |
When only de is left of the article
After a negative and after a quantity word, there's no article.
| Case | Example |
|---|---|
| after a negative | Il n'y a pas d'eau. |
| after a negative, before a consonant | Lucas ne prend pas de fromage. |
| a lot of something | beaucoup de fruits |
| a little of something | un peu de lait |
| too much | trop de pain |
| weight and packaging | un kilo de légumes · une bouteille d'eau |
Lesson notes
Some: du, de la, des
English says “I eat bread” with nothing before “bread”. In French a noun almost always has something in front of it, and “some” (not all, and not one item) has its own forms: the partitive article.
The forms are in the table: du for the masculine, de la for the feminine, de l' before a vowel or silent h, des for the plural.
Three articles stand in one row of the table, and the difference is meaning: le — I like it in general, un — I take one item, du — I eat some.
After a negative, all these forms become de, and before a vowel d'. You've already seen this rule with un, une, des: pas de, pas d'.
After a quantity word there's no article either, only de: beaucoup de fruits, un peu de lait, trop de pain, un kilo de légumes, une bouteille d'eau.
A polite request is a set phrase, “I'd like …, please”: Je voudrais …, s'il vous plaît. It's the polite form of vouloir; how it's built comes at the next level, so learn it whole for now. Je veux sounds as blunt as English “I want”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Je mange pain” → Je mange du pain.
• NOT “Je ne mange pas du poisson” → Je ne mange pas de poisson.
• NOT “beaucoup des fruits” → beaucoup de fruits.
• NOT “un kilo du fromage” → un kilo de fromage.
• NOT “J'aime du fromage” → J'aime le fromage.
• NOT “Je veux un café” in a store → Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.