A noun is a naming word used for a person, thing, place or idea. The word for ‘the’ or ‘a’ changes depending on the gender of the noun and whether it is singular or plural.
‘Some’ and ‘any’ are partitive articles and are used to refer to an unknown quantity of something. In French, the partitive article is formed with de (‘of’) and the definite articleMeans 'the'. Definite articles change depending on whether the noun it goes with is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. (‘the’.) This table shows how the combination works:
masculine
feminine
before a vowel or silent h
plural
de + le → du
de la
de l’
de + les → des
masculine
feminine
before a vowel or silent h
plural
de + le → du
de la
de l’
de + les → des
Partitive articles are often used with the common verbA word used to describe an action or state of being. including:
Verb in the infinitive
Example
manger – to eat
Je mange du pain. – I eat bread.
boire – to drink
Elle a bu de l’eau. – She drank water.
prendre – to take/have
Je vais prendre des tartines grillées avec de la confiture. – I’m going to have toast with jam.
faire – to do
Elle fait souvent des bêtises. – She often does stupid things.
avoir – to have
Il y a de la glace dans le congélateur. – There is ice cream in the freezer.
Verb in the infinitive
manger – to eat
Example
Je mange du pain. – I eat bread.
Verb in the infinitive
boire – to drink
Example
Elle a bu de l’eau. – She drank water.
Verb in the infinitive
prendre – to take/have
Example
Je vais prendre des tartines grillées avec de la confiture. – I’m going to have toast with jam.
Verb in the infinitive
faire – to do
Example
Elle fait souvent des bêtises. – She often does stupid things.
Verb in the infinitive
avoir – to have
Example
Il y a de la glace dans le congélateur. – There is ice cream in the freezer.
Complete the sentences withdu,de la,de l’ordes.
Question
Je voudrais acheter _______ poisson.
Je voudrais acheter du poisson. - I would like to buy some fish.
Poisson is masculine, and du means ‘some’ when the noun is masculine.
Question
Tu manges _______ viande ?
Tu manges de la viande ? - Do you eat (any) meat?
Viande is feminine and de la means ‘any’ in this context.
Question
Mon copain a _______ chance – il va regarder un match de foot à Paris ce weekend.
Mon copain a de la chance – il va regarder un match de foot à Paris ce weekend. My friend is lucky – he is going to watch a football match in Paris this weekend.
The common expression avoir de la chance means ‘to be lucky’.
Question
Elles ne boivent pas ________ café.
Elles ne boivent pas de café. - They don’t drink coffee.
After a negative expression, de is used without the definite article.
