Partitive Articles in French

Overview

Partitive articles — du, de la, de l', and des — are used in French to express an unspecified quantity of something, roughly translating to "some" or "any" in English. They are especially common when talking about food, drinks, and abstract concepts, making them essential vocabulary for the A1 level.

English often drops "some" entirely ("I want bread"), but French requires a partitive article in these situations (Je veux du pain). This is one of the trickiest concepts for English speakers because you must constantly decide between definite articles (talking about something in general), indefinite articles (talking about a countable item), and partitive articles (talking about an unspecified amount of something).

The partitive changes form after negation and after expressions of quantity — two rules that come up almost immediately and are important to internalize early.

How It Works

Gender/Number	Partitive	Example
Masculine singular	du	du pain (some bread)
Feminine singular	de la	de la confiture (some jam)
Before vowel/silent h	de l'	de l'eau (some water)
Plural	des	des légumes (some vegetables)

After negation: all partitives become de (or d')

Affirmative	Negative
Je mange du fromage.	Je ne mange pas de fromage.
Elle boit de la bière.	Elle ne boit pas de bière.
Il boit **de l'**eau.	Il ne boit pas **d'**eau.

After quantity expressions: use de (or d')

Expression	Example
beaucoup de	beaucoup de pain (a lot of bread)
un peu de	un peu de sucre (a little sugar)
trop de	trop de sel (too much salt)
assez de	assez **d'**argent (enough money)

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je veux du pain.	I want some bread.	Masculine partitive
Elle mange de la salade.	She eats some salad.	Feminine partitive
Tu bois **de l'**eau ?	Are you drinking water?	Before vowel
Nous achetons des fruits.	We buy some fruit.	Plural partitive
Je ne bois pas de café.	I don't drink coffee.	Negation → de
Il y a beaucoup de monde.	There are a lot of people.	Quantity → de
Tu veux du sucre ?	Do you want some sugar?	Offering
Il n'y a plus de lait.	There's no more milk.	Negation → de
J'ai de la chance.	I'm lucky. (I have some luck.)	Abstract noun
Mets un peu de beurre.	Put a little butter.	Quantity → de

Common Mistakes

Using definite articles instead of partitives

• Wrong: Je mange le fromage. (when you mean "some cheese")
• Right: Je mange du fromage.
• Why: Le fromage means cheese in general ("I like cheese"). Du fromage means an unspecified amount of cheese you are currently eating.

Keeping the partitive after negation

• Wrong: Je ne veux pas du pain.
• Right: Je ne veux pas de pain.
• Why: After ne...pas and other negative constructions, all partitive articles reduce to de (or d' before a vowel).

Forgetting the partitive altogether

• Wrong: Je bois eau.
• Right: Je bois de l'eau.
• Why: French always requires an article before a noun. Where English drops "some," French cannot.

Practice Tips

1. Practice ordering food and drinks using partitives: Je voudrais du café, de la salade, et de l'eau. This context makes the concept feel natural and immediately useful.
2. Take affirmative sentences with partitives and transform them into negatives: J'ai du temps → Je n'ai pas de temps. This drills the negation rule effectively.
3. Make a list of your daily meals and describe what you eat and drink using the correct partitive articles.

Related Concepts

• Definite Articles — le, la, l', les for specific or general reference
• The Pronoun En — replaces partitive constructions