French Partitive Articles

Les Articles partitifs

Definite articles | Indefinite articles | Partitive articles | Test on articles

The partitive articles in French correspond to some or any in English. There are four forms of the French partitive article.

Note that the partitive article has four forms, and the one to use depends on three things: the noun's number, gender, and first letter. If it's plural, use des. If it's singular and starts with a vowel or mute h, use de l'. If it's singular and starts with a consonant, use du if it's masculine and de la if it's feminine.

  
Meaning and Usage of the French Partitive Article

The partitive article indicates an unknown quantity of something, usually food or drink. It is often omitted in English.

Avez-vous bu du thé ? - Did you drink some tea?
J'ai mangé de la salade hier - I ate salad yesterday.
Nous allons prendre de la glace - We're going to have some ice cream.

After adverbs of quantity, de is used instead of the partitive article.

Il y a beaucoup de thé - There is a lot of tea.
J'ai moins de glace que Thierry - I have less ice cream than Thierry.
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In a negative construction, the partitive article changes to de, meaning any:

J'ai mangé de la soupe ==> Je n'ai pas mangé de soupe.
I ate some soup ==> I didn't eat any soup.

More about de vs du, de la, des

Partitive article vs Definite article

The partitive is usually used when discussing eating or drinking, because one normally only eats some butter, cheese, etc., not all of it. If you want to say that you eat all of something, use the definite article:

J'ai mangé du gâteau - I ate some cake (one piece).
J'ai mangé le gâteau - I ate the cake (the whole thing).

Partitive article vs Indefinite article

The partitive indicates that the quantity is unknown or uncountable. When the quantity is known/countable, use the indefinite article (or a number):

Il a mangé de la tarte - He ate some pie.
Il a préparé une tarte - He made a pie.

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