1 The basic rules
- du, de la, de l’ and des can all be used to give information about the amount or quantity of a particular thing. They are often translated into English as some or any.
- In French, you choose between du, de la, de l’ and des, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.
| | with masculine noun | with feminine noun |
| Singular | du (de l’) | de la (de l’) |
| Plural | des | des |
Tipde + le and de la change to de l’ when they are used in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.
- du is used in front of masculine singular nouns.
| du beurre | (some/any) butter |
| du jus d’orange | (some/any) orange juice |
- Note that du is also a combination of de + le and has other meanings, such as saying who something belongs to or where something is from.
- de la is used in front of feminine singular nouns.
| de la viande | (some/any) meat |
| de la margarine | (some/any) margarine |
- de l’ is used in front of singular nouns that start with a vowel and most nouns starting with h, whether they are masculine or feminine.
| de l’argent (masculine) | (some/any) money |
| de l’eau (feminine) | (some/any) water |
| de l’herbe (feminine) | (some/any) grass |
- des is used in front of plural nouns, whether they are masculine or feminine and whatever letter they start with.
| des gâteaux | (some/any) cakes |
| des lettres | (some/any) letters |
| des hôtels | (some/any) hotels |
- Note that des is also a combination of de + les and has other meanings, such as saying who something belongs to or where something is from.
2 The partitive article in negative sentences
- In French, you use word pairs like ne … pas (meaning not) and ne … jamais (meaning never) to say that something is not happening or not true. In this type of expression, du, de la, de l’ and des all change to de.
| Nous n’avons pas de beurre. | We don’t have any butter. |
| Je ne mange jamais de viande. | I never eat meat. |
| Il n’y a pas de timbres. | There aren’t any stamps. |
de changes to d’ in front of a word starting with a vowel and most nouns starting with h.| Il n’a pas d’argent. | He doesn’t have any money. |
| Il n’y a pas d’horloge dans la salle. | There isn’t a clock in the room. |
Grammar Extra!There are some very common adjectives, like beau, bon and petit, that can come BEFORE the noun instead of after it. When an adjective comes before a plural noun, des changes to de.| J’ai reçu de beaux cadeaux. | I got some lovely presents. |
| Cette région a de très jolis villages. | This area has some very pretty villages. |
3 The meaning of du, de la, de l’ and des
- du, de la, de l’ and des are often translated into English as some or any, but there are times when no word is used in English to translate the French.
| Il me doit de l’argent. | He owes me (some) money. |
| Je vais acheter de la farine et du beurre pour faire un gâteau. | I’m going to buy (some) flour and butter to make a cake. |
| Est-ce qu’il y a des lettres pour moi? | Are there any letters for me? |
| Elle ne veut pas de beurre. | She doesn’t want any butter. |
| Je ne prends pas de lait. | I don’t take milk. |
TipRemember that du, de la, de l’ and des can NEVER be missed out in French, even if there is no word in English.
Key points- With masculine singular nouns → use du.
- With feminine singular nouns → use de la.
- With singular nouns starting with a vowel and some nouns beginning with h → use de l’.
- With plural nouns → use des.
- du, de la, de l’ and des → change to de or d’ in negative sentences