Partitives – what are they?
Du, de la, de l', des - 'some' and 'any'
To say 'some' or 'any' in French, use: de + the correct article.
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Before a vowel or -h | Plural |
| some, any | de + le = du | de + la = de la | de + l' = de l' | de + les = des |
| English | some, any |
|---|---|
| Masculine | de + le = du |
| Feminine | de + la = de la |
| Before a vowel or -h | de + l' = de l' |
| Plural | de + les = des |
Sometimes in English we miss out ‘some’ or ‘any’ in a sentence, but in French you must include them.
avez-vous des fraises ? - have you got (any) strawberries?
je voudrais du poulet, s’il vous plaît - I’d like (some) chicken please
tu as de la monnaie ? - have you got (any) change?
When combining de with an article, follow the rules in the table:
- du comes before a masculine word. Here, we’re using le pain - bread:
je mange du pain le matin - I have (some) bread in the morning
- de la comes before a feminine word, for example la salade - lettuce:
vous avez de la salade ? - do you have any lettuce?
- de l' comes before a singular word beginning with a vowel (eg l’eau) or silent -h (l’huile):
tu bois de l'eau ? - are you drinking some water?
ma mère a acheté de l'huile d’olive - my mother bought some olive oil
- des comes before a word in the plural form, eg les légumes - vegetables:
nous mangeons des légumes - we eat (some) vegetables
