Les Articles Partitifs : Partitive Articles
The partitive articles indicate an unknown quantity of something, usually food or drink. It is often omitted in English. They are:
| Singulier | Pluriel | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculin | féminin | devant voyelle | ||
| some | du | de la | de l' | des |
When referring to a noun whose quantity or amount is not specified, French speakers use the partitive article de, which conveys essentially the same meaning as some or any in English.
For example, rather than saying the equivalent of I bought cheese, French speakers always say, I bought some cheese.
Rather than saying, Do you have pets? they always say, Do you have some pets?
Exemples:
- Je mange du pain. ('I eat some of the bread.')
The word pain in French is a masculine word. So, we must use the masculine form of the partitive article.
- Nous avons de l'oignon. ('We have a part of the onion.')
The word, oignon starts with a vowel, so we must use the partitive article for words starting with vowels.
- Il prend de la glace. (He takes some of the ice cream.)
We use the feminine form of the partitive article because the word glace is feminine.
- Anne mange des abricots. (Anne eats some of the apricots.)
We use the plural form of the partitive article because we are talking about more than one apricot.