Du, de la, des: the article your language leaves out
CEFR A1
What you will learn
- Choose du, de la, de l’ or des according to gender, initial sound and number.
- Reduce the partitive to de after a basic negative.
The idea
To talk about an unspecified quantity or unidentified plural items, French requires a determiner: du, de la, de l’ or des.
For an uncounted quantity, French uses “du” with masculine nouns, “de la” with feminine nouns and “de l’” before a vowel or mute h. It uses “des” for an indefinite plural. This page practises all four choices because each requires a determiner selected by meaning, gender, number and initial sound; strictly speaking, “des” is the plural indefinite article.
And it is not optional. “Je mange du pain” is the ordinary sentence; “je mange pain” does not exist. This is the rule that gets forgotten most at the start, because what is forgotten is not a hard word: it is putting in something that your own language does not have.
In a basic quantity negative, the forms become “de”, or “d’” before a vowel: “je mange du pain” → “je ne mange pas de pain”; “elle boit de l’eau” → “elle ne boit pas d’eau”. Gender no longer decides. Contrastive uses that retain the article are outside this first rule.
Watch out for a look-alike: “du” and “des” also turn up for a different reason, when “de” bumps into “le” or “les” and they merge. Same spelling, different job. You will meet that in the unit on contractions; for now it is enough to know that one form does two things.
Partitive system
| contexte | forme | modèle |
|---|---|---|
| masculin singulier | du | du pain |
| féminin singulier | de la | de la soupe |
| voyelle / h muet | de l' | de l'eau |
| pluriel | des | des légumes |
| négation de quantité | de / d' | pas de pain / pas d'eau |
How it sounds
- Je mange du pain tous les matins.“Pain” is not counted here, so it takes “du”.
- Elle boit de l'eau.“Eau” is feminine, but it starts with a vowel: “de l'”.
- Nous achetons des fruits au marché.Plural: “des”. And yes, it is the same form you will see in contractions.
- Je ne mange pas de viande.After a negative everything becomes “de”. Gender is irrelevant.
Your turn
Two or three, to check that the bit above landed.
Je bois ___ eau chaque matin.
de l' — “Eau” starts with a vowel, so the form elides.
Il ne mange pas ___ viande.
de — This basic quantity negative uses “de”, even though “viande” is feminine.
Nous achetons ___ fruits au marché.
des — Affirmative plural: “des”. If the sentence were negative it would be “de”.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
- With the verb “être” the negative does not turn it into “de”: what is denied is the identification, not the quantity.Ce n'est pas du vin, c'est de l'eau.
- “Aimer”, “adorer” and “détester” take the definite article, not the partitive: they talk about coffee in general, not about an amount.J'aime le café, mais je bois du thé.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Je mange pain et je bois eau.
Right Je mange du pain et je bois de l'eau.
English can leave a mass noun bare, as in “I eat bread”. In a basic affirmative French sentence, choose “du”, “de la” or “de l’”; use “des” for an indefinite plural.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- CEFR A1 · elementary repertoire for concrete needs and very simple interaction. · Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Companion Volume
- MCER como referencia; sin asignación estatal A1 por curso. · Real Decreto 217/2022, currículo básico de ESO
- A1 al final de classe terza; A1.1/A1.2 son subdivisiones editoriales. · Decreto 9 dicembre 2025, n. 221 · nuove Indicazioni nazionali
Once it makes sense
Practise this: The partitive: du, de la, desGender and the article: le, la, l', un, uneThe present tense and the explicit subjectTwo-part negation: ne… pas wraps around the verbAccents and the cedilla: they do not tell you where the stress fallsAu, aux, du, des: when à and de collide with the articleThe passé composé: two pieces and an auxiliary you have to choose