There are four types of partitive article in French, du, de la, de l’, and des, used to specify unknown quantities. These correspond to ‘some’ or ‘any’, which are often omitted in English. Choosing which one to use depends on the gender, number and first letter of the noun that follows.or negative sentences, the partitive articles in French are de and d’.
There are three partitive articles in French:
| ARTICLE | EXAMPLE | ENGLISH TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| du | du pain (masculine) | (some) bread |
| de la | de la viande (feminine) | (some) meat |
| de l’ (masculine) | de l’ail (masculine) | (some) garlic |
| de l’ (feminine) | de l’eau (feminine) | (some) water |
After the Negative
In negative sentences, partitive articles (du, de la, des, de l’) change to de: Example:
Joe mange de la viande. Joe eats meat.
Tammy ne mange pas de viande. Tammy doesn’t eat meat