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French grammar Part of Chapter 5

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (22 questions)

French Partitive Articles: du, de la, des and When to Use de

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

The partitive marks some of something: , I'm eating (some) bread. English drops the some; French never drops the article. And in two places, after a negative and after a word of quantity, it shrinks to plain .

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

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Tap the mistake English speakers make.

The whole system on one screen

masculinefemininepluralplain deWhat do the colours mean?
SituationArticleExample
some, .
some, .
before a vowel l' ?
some, plural .
after a negative / ' .
after a quantity / '
after , , .

In English: I'm eating bread; there's meat; do you want water?; he has friends; I don't eat bread; a lot of bread; I like bread.

The four partitive forms

FormBeforeExample
a noun
a noun
l'a vowel or silent h ,
any plural
Inside a bakery with a striped awning: a customer holding out a coin stands at the counter; behind it a smiling baker in a chef's hat; on the counter a big loaf of bread, a steaming cup of coffee and a till, with more bread on the shelves behind.

At the counter you ask for an amount, not a whole category: du pain, du café.

The same noun takes three articles for three meanings:

  • . - I'm eating (some) bread.
  • . - I'm eating the bread (that one).
  • . - I'm eating a (whole) loaf.

When to use the partitive

Use it for an amount you do not count (food, drink, money, time, qualities), and for an unspecified number of things. If English could add some without changing the meaning, French needs the partitive.

  • . - She drinks coffee.
  • . - It takes patience.
  • . - We have money.
  • . - There are children in the street.

is never French. It needs , or .

After a negative: de

After a negative verb, , , , and all shrink to (' before a vowel).

du becomes de after pas
YesNoEnglish
. .I don't eat bread.
. .There's no meat.
. .She has no friends.
. .I don't drink water.

Two things do not shrink. The definite article stays: . (I don't see the dog.) And nothing changes after : . (They aren't friends.) The French negation page has the rest of ... .

After a quantity: de

A word of quantity takes plain and no article: , never .

LessMore
  1. peu de painlittle bread
  2. un peu de paina little bread
  3. assez de painenough bread
  4. beaucoup de paina lot of bread
  5. trop de paintoo much bread
FrenchEnglish
a lot of friends
little time
enough money
too much work
a glass of water
a bottle of wine
a of apples

Two exceptions:

  • (most) keeps the article: (most children), (most of the time).
  • and (several, a few) take no at all: , .

The aimer trap: likes take le, not du

Verbs of liking and disliking (, , , ) talk about a thing in general, so they take , or .

Liking: le, laHaving: du, de laEnglish
. .I like / drink coffee.
. .She likes / eats meat.

The negative keeps here, because it is a definite article: . (I don't like coffee.)

Two more places plain de appears

Before a plural adjective. In careful written French, becomes when an adjective comes before the noun: (good friends), (big houses). Speech often keeps ; after the noun it always stays: .

After a that already ends in . (to need) takes no article for an amount: . (I need money.) For a specific thing it returns: Marc. (I need Marc's money.)

Common mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. .some bread needs
becomes after
quantity takes plain
. .liking takes
becomes d' after

What to do next

  1. Say what is in your fridge with , and .
  2. Say what is not, with .
  3. Do the drill below, then the French articles page.

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/6

Which word goes in the gap?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/5

Tap the mistake English speakers make.

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose the article for the gap.

  1. Je mange pain tous les matins.

  2. Il faut patience.

  3. Nous avons amis à Paris.

  4. Je voudrais un peu eau.

  5. Il n'y a pas vin.

  6. Il a argent.

Translation drill

0/5

Translate into French, turning the article into de / d' after a negative or a word of quantity.

  1. I'm eating some bread.

  2. She drinks a lot of water.

  3. We don't have any money.

  4. I like coffee.

  5. She has a lot of work.

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Frequently asked questions

When do I use , , or in French?
For an unspecified amount of something, wherever English says some or could say it. Use before a masculine noun ( ), before a feminine noun ( ), and for a plural ( ). Before a vowel or silent h, both and become l' ( , ).
Why does ' ' become '' after a negative?
After a negative verb, , , , and all become plain , or d' before a vowel. becomes ; becomes . The same thing happens after a word of quantity: , .
Is it or ?
. Verbs of liking and disliking (, , , ) talk about the thing in general, so they take , or . The partitive is for an amount you drink, eat or have: . One sentence can hold both: , .
When does become in French?
In three places: after a negative ( ), after a word of quantity ( ), and in careful written French before a plural adjective placed ahead of the noun ( ). The definite never changes, and after nothing changes: .
What is the difference between as an article and as a preposition?
Same spelling, different jobs. The partitive means some: . The preposition is + , meaning of the or from the: (the price of the bread), (I'm coming from the market). Under a negative only the partitive shrinks: , but .