The partitive article: du, de la, de l’ and des -French Grammar

 

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.

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• 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.

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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.

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• Tip

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.

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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

The indefinite article: un, une and des - French Grammar

 

1 The basic rules

• In English we have the indefinite article a, which changes to an in front of a word that starts with a vowel. In the plural we say either some, any or nothing at all.
• In French, you choose from un, une and des, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and singular or plural.

	with masculine noun	with feminine noun
Singular	un	une
Plural	des	des

• un is used in front of masculine singular nouns.

un roi	a king
un chien	a dog
un jardin	a garden

• une is used in front of feminine singular nouns.

une reine	a queen
une souris	a mouse
une porte	a door

• des is used in front of plural nouns, whether they are masculine or feminine, and whatever letter they start with.

des chiens	(some/any) dogs
des souris	(some/any) mice
des amis	(some/any) friends

• 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.

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• Tip

When des is used in front of a word that starts with a consonant (any letter except a, e, i, o or u), you DO NOT say the s on the end of des: des chiens (some/any) dogs.When des is used in front of a word that starts with a vowel, and most words starting with h, you DO pronounce the s on the end. It sounds like the z in the English word zip: des amis (some/any) friends, des hôtels (some/any) hotels.

2 The indefinite article in negative sentences

• In English we use words like not and never to indicate that something is not happening or is not true. The sentences that these words are used in are called negative sentences.

• I don’t know him.
• I never do my homework on time.

• 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. When un, une or des is used after this type of expression, it has to be changed to de.

Je n’ai pas de vélo.	I don’t have a bike.
Nous n’avons pas de cousins.	We don’t have any cousins.

• Tip

de changes to d’ in front of a word starting with a vowel and most words starting with h.

Je n’ai pas d’ordinateur.	I don’t have a computer.
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.

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3 The meaning of des

• des can mean different things in English, depending on the sentence. Some is often the best word to use.

J’ai un chien, deux chats et des souris.	I’ve got a dog, two cats and some mice.
Tu veux des chips?	Would you like some crisps?

• In questions and negative sentences des means any, or is not translated at all.

Tu as des frères?	Have you got any brothers?
Il n’y a pas d’œufs.	There aren’t any eggs.
Avez-vous des timbres?	Do you have stamps?

TipAs an English speaker, you will know what sounds right in your own language. The important thing to remember is that des can NEVER be missed out in French, even if there is no word in English.

4 Using the indefinite article

• The indefinite article is used in French in much the same way as we use a, some and any in English, but there are two places where the indefinite article is NOT used:

• with the adjective quel (meaning what a), in sentences like

Quel dommage!	What a shame!
Quelle surprise!	What a surprise!
Quelle bonne idée!	What a good idea!

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• when you say what jobs people do

Il est professeur.	He’s a teacher.
Ma mère est infirmière.	My mother’s a nurse.

TipWhen you use c’est (to mean he/she is), you DO use un or une. When you use ce sont (to mean they are), you DO use des.

C’est un médecin.	He’s/She’s a doctor.
Ce sont des acteurs.	They’re actors.

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Key points

• With masculine singular nouns → use un.
• With feminine singular nouns → use une.
• With plural nouns → use des.
• un, une and des → change to de or d’ in negative sentences.
• The indefinite article is not usually used when you say what jobs people do, or in exclamations with quel.