I. Possession or belonging (learn more)
le livre de Paul - Paul's book
la bibliothèque de l'université - the university library
II. Starting point or origin (learn more)
partir de Nice - to leave from (out of) Nice
Je suis de Bruxelles - I'm from Brussels
III. Contents / description of something
une tasse de thé - cup of tea
un roman d'amour - love story (story of/about love)
IV. Defining feature
le marché de gros - wholesale market
une salle de classe - classroom
le jus d'orange - orange juice
V. Cause
mourir de faim - to die of / from hunger
fatigué du voyage - tired from the trip
VI. Means / manner of doing something
écrire de la main gauche - to write with one's left hand
répéter de mémoire - to recite from memory
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Note: When followed by the definite articles le and les, de contracts with them into a single word: | |||||
| For example | |||||
| de + le | = | du | du salon | ||
| de + les | = | des | des villes | ||
| But de does not contract with la or l' | |||||
| de + la | = | de la | de la femme | ||
| de + l' | = | de l' | de l'homme | ||
| In addition, de does not contract with le and les when they are direct objects. | |||||
