FRENCH ARTICLES
Definite vs. Partitive

The use of the definite article (le, la, etc.) and of the partitive (du, de la, de l',or a blank) in French depends upon whether or not they follow the preposition "de." "De" is a preposition when it follows expressions that require "de" before a noun, such as "beaucoup de," "parler de," and "avoir peur de."

A. Not following the preposition "de":

1) le,la,l',les: a) refer to a definite object and are translated by "the."
Ex. the dust = la poussière
  b) refer to an idea or thing in general, or to an abstract idea,
and are not translated.
Ex. dust (in general) = la poussière; love (the abstract idea)=l'amour
2) du,de la,
de l',des:		 refer to an indefinite quantity and are translated by "some" or are not translated.
Ex. (some) dust = de la poussière

Exercises: Click for vocabulary help (Type Entire Sentence)
1) Give me thread (some).

2) The thread is in front of the lamp.

3) Thread (in general) is easy to cut.


4) Life is wonderful.

5) The student's disappointment

6) There are waves in the sea.



B) Following the preposition "de" (you must memorize those verbs or expressions that are followed by the preposition "de," such as avoir besoin de, avoir peur de, and be aware when "de" is a preposition meaning "of" ("beaucoup de livres") or "from" ("Il vient de la cave")):

1) Use the definite article,
Expression+de + le(etc.) 		a) when referring to a specific object ("the").
Ex. avoir besoin de la voile = to need the (specific) sail.
beaucoup de la soupe que tu as achetée hier= lots of the soup you bought yesterday.
  b) when referring to an idea or thing in general
or to an abstract idea.
Ex. avoir peur des voiles, de l'amour= to fear sails (in general), to fear love (the abstract idea)
Ils parlent des voiles.=They are speaking about sails (in general).
2) Use no definite article, Expression + de when referring to an indefinite quantity ("some").
Ex. avoir besoin de voiles = to need (some) sails.
beaucoup de voiles = lots of sails.
Ils parlent de voiles=They are speaking about (some) sails.

Exercises: Click for vocabulary help
7) He is speaking about (some) poems.

8) He is speaking about poems (in general).

9) We read lots of the stanzas in that poem.

10) She laughs at the joke.

11) I want information.

12) She gets angry at jokes.

13) We will return home from the dance at 3AM.

C. The articles (not prepositions) "des, du, etc." become "de":
1) when they immediately precede a plural adjective (and the adjective does not form a unity with the following noun);
Ex. des livres => de gros livres. (but: des jeunes filles)
2) when "du, de la, etc" are the direct object of a negative sentence and the noun they modify is totally negated by this sentence ,"not...any," "none" (after "être" the noun is not totally negated, so "du, etc." remain the same in the negative).
Ex. Il a un stylo. => Il n'a pas de stylos (mais: Ce n'est pas un stylo.)

Exercises: Click for vocabulary help
14) She has grand ideas.

15) We haven't any time.

16) They don't want any coffee.

17) These words have bad connotations.

18) This is not a problem.

Vocabulary:
thread = le fil
wonderful = extraordinaire, magnifique
disappointment = la déception
wave = la vague
stanza = la strophe
joke = la blague
information = les renseignements

Page with explanations only to print

Nom de l'exercice:

Nom:

Adresse de courrier électronique:

pour soumettre vos réponses au professeur.