Language/French/Grammar/The-partitive-article

The Partitive Article: du, de l', de la, des in French Grammar

In French grammar, the partitive article is used to indicate an unknown or unspecified quantity of a noun. It is used with uncountable or mass nouns, such as liquids, food, and abstract concepts. In this lesson, we will explore the four forms of the partitive article: du, de l', de la, and des.

Du

The partitive article "du" is used with masculine singular nouns. It is formed by combining the preposition "de" with the masculine singular form of the definite article "le." For example:

• Je veux du café. (I want some coffee.)
• Il a acheté du pain. (He bought some bread.)
• Nous avons mangé du fromage. (We ate some cheese.)

De l'

The partitive article "de l'" is used with singular nouns that begin with a vowel sound. It is formed by combining the preposition "de" with the singular form of the indefinite article "l'." For example:

• Je veux de l'eau. (I want some water.)
• Il a bu de l'orangeade. (He drank some orangeade.)
• Nous avons mangé de l'agneau. (We ate some lamb.)

De la

The partitive article "de la" is used with feminine singular nouns. It is formed by combining the preposition "de" with the feminine singular form of the definite article "la." For example:

• Je veux de la salade. (I want some salad.)
• Il a acheté de la viande. (He bought some meat.)
• Nous avons mangé de la soupe. (We ate some soup.)

Des

The partitive article "des" is used with plural nouns of any gender. It is formed by combining the preposition "de" with the plural form of the definite article "les." For example:

• Je veux des fruits. (I want some fruit.)
• Il a acheté des légumes. (He bought some vegetables.)
• Nous avons mangé des croissants. (We ate some croissants.)

It's important to note that the partitive article can be replaced by the indefinite article in some contexts. For example, "je veux du café" (I want some coffee) could also be expressed as "je veux un café" (I want a coffee) in some situations.

Conclusion

The partitive article is an important part of French grammar and is used to indicate an unknown or unspecified quantity of a noun. By learning the four forms of the partitive article - du, de l', de la, and des - you can improve your French language skills and communicate more effectively with native speakers.

Table of Contents

Nouns

• Types
• Gender
• Plural

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Determiners

• Articles
• Typical use of the definite article
• Typical use of the indefinite article
• The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des
• Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère
• Omission of the article
• Demonstrative determiners
• Possessive determiners

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Personal and impersonal pronouns

• Subject pronouns
• Object pronouns
• Stressed pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Possessive pronouns

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Adjectives

• Adjectives modifying the noun
• Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions
• Adjectives with complements
• Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective complements
• Adjectives used as nouns
• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives
• Plural forms of adjectives
• Adjective agreement with nouns
• Invariable adjectives
• Compound adjectives
• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
• Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective
• Absolute use of the superlative

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Adverbs

• Function of adverbs
• Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment
• Phrases used as adverbs
• English and French adverb formation
• Types of adverbs
• Location of adverbs

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Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers

• Cardinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers
• Fractions
• Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English
• Measurements and comparisons
• Dates, days, years
• Clock time
• Money
• Quantifiers

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Verb forms

• Conjugations
• Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms
• Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs
• Verbs whose stems end in c- or g-
• Verb paradigms

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Verb constructions

• Relations between verbs and their complements
• Intransitive constructions
• Directly transitive verbs
• Indirectly transitive verbs
• Ditransitive verbs
• The passive
• Pronominal verbs
• Impersonal verbs
• Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements

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Verb and participle agreement

• Subject-verb agreement
• Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être
• Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir with a preceding direct object
• Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses

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Tense

• The present
• The past
• The future
• Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur relative to other events
• Combining tenses
• Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events
• Tenses with si

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The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives

• The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive
• The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir
• The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would', 'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must'
• Exclamatives
• Imperatives

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The infinitive

• Introduction: what are infinitives?
• Infinitives as complements to other verbs
• Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking preposition
• Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the preposition à
• Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de
• Omission of objects before infinitives
• Infinitives as complements to adjectives
• Infinitives as complements to nouns
• Infinitives in subordinate clauses
• Infinitives as polite commands
• Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements

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Prepositions

• Introduction
• Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers
• French translations for common English prepositions

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Question formation

• Introduction
• Yes/no questions
• Information questions
• Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion
• Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion
• Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?, de qui?, avec combien de? etc.
• Indirect questions

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Relative clauses

• Introduction
• Use of relative qui
• Use of relative que
• Preposition plus qui
• Use of lequel in relative clauses
• Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles
• The use of où as a relative pronoun
• Use of relative quoi
• Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc.
• Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever', 'however'
• Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses

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Negation

• Introduction
• Location of sentence negators
• Order of negators in multiple negation
• Omission of ne in sentence negation
• Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives
• ne... pas
• ne... que
• ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le)
• ne... jamais
• ne... plus
• ne... guère
• ne... rien
• ne... personne
• ne... ni... ni
• sans used with other negators
• ne used alone

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Conjunctions and other linking constructions

• Introduction
• Coordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions
• Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers
• Repeated subordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses
• après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause to a main clause
• Past participle phrases used as linkers
• Present participles and gerunds

Other Lessons

• Position of object pronouns with devoir, pouvoir + infinitives
• How to use « il y a » in French
• The partitive article "du", "de l'", "de la" and "des"
• When use ou or où
• Comparing neutral ce, cela, ça with personal il ils and elle elles
• Comparative and superlative forms of adverbs
• Comparatives and Superlatives
• Pronominal verbs used as passives
• Adjective—adjective compounds
• Nouns with irregular plurals