French Indefinite and Partitive Articles & Audio Pronunciation

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Un, une, des, du, de la (or de ?)… I’ll explain clearly the French partitive & indefinite articles: “some” vs. specific quantity (+ audio recordings)

A, AN or ONE, SOME, ANY ā€” To translate this notion, the French use a combination of 2 articles ;

  1. the indefinite article (un, une, des, negative pas de),
  2. and the partitive article (du, de la, de lā€™, des, negative pas de).

The key to understanding them relies on understanding that it is all a question of specification of quantity.

When building your sentence, itā€™s better if you donā€™t translate from English but rather understand whether you are talking about a precise quantity or a vague one, and use the corresponding French article.

Click on the link below to hear my audio recording of this free French grammar lesson.

1 ā€“ The French Partitive Articles

When you are talking about a portion of an item (food), or something that cannot be quantified (e.g. qualities, like patience), use a partitive article:

  1. du (+ masculine word)
  2. de la (+ feminine word),
  3. de lā€™ (followed by a vowel),
  4. des (+ plural word).

2 ā€“ Du, de la, de lā€™, des = Unspecified Quantity

The French partitive articles express a notion of quantity: a vague one, a non-specific one.

Important: these articles are often used after the verbs vouloir (ā€œJe voudrais du vinā€) or avoir (ā€œJā€™ai des chatsā€) and with food.

Itā€™s the notion of ā€œsomeā€ in English, but we donā€™t always use the word ā€œsomeā€. Often, we use nothing at all.

In French, you need to ā€œaccompanyā€ your word with something.

  1. Je voudrais de lā€™eau, sā€™il vous plait. (some water, maybe a glass, or maybe a bottleā€¦)
  2. Le professeur a de la patience. (patience ; you are not saying how much patience the teacher has, just that he/she has some)
  3. Voici du gĆ¢teau. (some of it, not the whole cake)

To describe an unspecified plural quantity, use ā€œdesā€ (both feminine and masculine)ā€Ø. This tells you there is more than one item, but again, itā€™s a vague plural quantity (could be 2, could be 10,000 or more)ā€¦ This ā€œdesā€ usually applies to whole items, that you could count, but decided not to.

  1. Jā€™ai des Euros. (more than one, but I am not telling exactly how many)
  2. Je vais acheter des pommes. (Iā€™m going to buy apples. In English, weā€™d probably wonā€™t use an article there. Maybe some, but not necessarily. In French, you need to use ā€œdesā€)
  3. Elle a des amies formidables (she has (some) great friends)

3 ā€“ More About Translating ā€œSomeā€ in French

In English, the word ā€œsomeā€ is used for unspecified quantity (I would like some milk) but also as a derogatory adjective (he went home with some girl).

In French, you would never say ā€œil est rentrĆ© chez lui avec de la filleā€ā€¦He didnā€™t go home with an unspecified quantity of a girl!! So be careful, translation doesnā€™t always work.

Same thing goes with one of my example ā€œelle a des amis formidablesā€. In English, if you say ā€œshe has some great friendsā€ youā€™d be strongly implying that her other friends are not so greatā€¦ So here, weā€™d use an article when in English youā€™d probably use nothing ā€œshe has great friendsā€. You need to use the French logic :ā€she has an ā€œunspecified quantity pluralā€ great friendsā€ = ā€œelle a des amis formidables

Some food items are usually referred to as singular in English, although they are really plural. Like rice.
There are many grains of rice, but itā€™s rare that you are counting them one by oneā€¦
So rice is considered as a single ingredient, singular masculine ā€œle rizā€.
If you need to count each grain, then youā€™d use the expression ā€œgrain de rizā€ ā€“ Il y a 3 grains de riz sur la table. But, more often, youā€™d say something like ā€œJā€™achĆØte du rizā€ ( I buy some rice, or I buy rice).

In my beginner and intermediate level French audio books, many chapters talk about food, or take place in a restaurant, and youā€™ll find these articles used in context in each chapters.

4 ā€“ French Indefinite Articles and Numbers

When you are talking about a whole item, use:

  1. un (+ masculine word)
  2. une (+ feminine word).

Remark: the indefinite article ā€˜a, anā€™, and the cardinal number ā€˜oneā€™ have the same translation in French.

  1. Voici une fille. (a girl, one girl)
  2. Donne-moi une pomme. (an apple, one apple)
  3. Jā€™ai un Euro. (an Euro, one Euro)
  4. Je cherche un beau livre. (a pretty book)
  5. Jā€™achĆØte une robe bleue. (a blue dress)

If you have more than one, then youā€™d use numbers : 2, 3, 10ā€¦ with numbers, you donā€™t use any articles. To master French numbers, train with my audio French Numbers and exercises series ā€“ exclusively available on my French Todayā€™s blog.

  • Jā€™ai trois chats. I have three cats.
french indefinite articles
Jā€™ai trois chats (specific number)

5 ā€“ More Specific Quantity = Expressions of quantity + de or dā€™

This is usually the part that confuses students.

Even if itā€™s not an article per se, I think it should be studied in this lesson since this is really the key to understanding it all.

When you use an expression of quantity (a kilo ofā€¦, a bottle ofā€¦, a little bit ofā€¦) you are expressing a very specific quantity.

And these are followed by the preposition de or dā€™ (+ vowel or h), meaning ā€œofā€, exactly like in English.

You donā€™t say ā€œa bottle some waterā€. You say ā€œa bottle of waterā€.
Itā€™s the same in French: we say: ā€œUne bouteille dā€™eauā€ (of water), not ā€œune bouteille de lā€™eauā€( de lā€™ = some).

Unfortunately, this ā€œdeā€ or ā€œd'ā€ looks a lot like ā€œde lā€™, du, des etcā€¦ā€ hence the confusion.

So, in French, after an expression of quantity, we use ā€œdeā€ or ā€œd'ā€ (+ word starting with a vowel).

The notion of partitive articles and quantities is explained in depth and then illustrated with many examples within the context of a fun bilingual story in my intermediate French learning method L3 (with audio of course!).

ƀ Moi Paris Audiobook Method

A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.

(836 Reviews)

More Details & Audio Samples

6 ā€“ Common French Expressions of Quantity

Of course, quantity are going to be very common with food items. So you are likely to use these constructions a lot, since the French are always talking about food!

  1. Un verre de vin (a glass OF wine, NOT DU, you do not say ā€œa glass some wineā€)
  2. Une bouteille de champagne (a bottle of champagne)
  3. Une carafe dā€™eau (a pitcher of water ā€“ de becomes dā€™ + vowel)
  4. Un litre de jus de pomme (a liter of apple juice)
  5. Une assiette de charcuterie (a plate of cold cuts)
  6. Un kilo de pommes de terre (a kilo of potatoes)
  7. Une botte de carottes (a bunch of carrots)
  8. Une barquette de fraises (a box of strawberries)
  9. Une part de tarte (a slice of pie).

And do not forget all the adverbs, that also specify quantities :

  1. Un peu de fromage (a bit of cheese)
  2. Beaucoup de lait (a lot of milk).
  3. Quelques morceaux de lards (a few pieces of bacon).

Note that in spoken French, this ā€œdeā€ is very much glided, so almost silent (just to make things more difficult!)

cheeseboard, grape and red wine
Un plateau de fromages, un peu de raisin, un verre et une bouteille de vin = expressions of quantities are followed by ā€œdeā€.

7 ā€“ Specific Quantity is Zero, None = Pas + de or dā€™

Following the same logic, PAS is a specified quantity ; none. So  pas is also followed by the preposition de or dā€™. (Except after the verb ā€œĆŖtreā€ when the article doesnā€™t change).

  1. Jā€™ai des amis BUT Je nā€™ai pas dā€™amis. (I donā€™t have any friends)
  2. Elle a beaucoup de patience BUT Elle nā€™a pas de patience. (She has no patience)
  3.  Il y a 5 livres BUT Il nā€™y a pas de livre. (There is no book)

BUT: Cā€™est un ami, ce nā€™est pas un ami.

8 ā€“ French Partitive and Indefinite Article Recap

Some things are easy to quantify: one apple. Itā€™s a whole apple. You usually buy, eat, need one, 2, 3 applesā€¦
But you may decide to be vague, and say ā€œdes pommesā€ = more than one, but I donā€™t know exactly how many.

Now, some things are less easily quantifiableā€¦ You donā€™t buy ā€œone riceā€. You buy either ā€œone kilo of riceā€ (a kilo of, an expression of quantity), or ā€œsome riceā€ (unspecified quantity of an item which is not easily quantifiable).

So you need to ask yourself Am I talking about:

  1. a very specific quantity (a number, or an expression of quantity : une pomme, 5 pommes, un kilo de pommes, une bouteille de vin).
  2. an unspecified quantity of an item (du vin), or an unspecified quantity of something that is not easily quantifiable (du riz, de la patience)
  3. more than one of an item, but a vague plural quantity (des pommes)
  4. Ā no item at all (pas de pomme)

Now letā€™s check your understanding of this lesson.

9 ā€“ French Partitive and Indefinite Articles Exercise

So, letā€™s do some exercises to test your understanding: complete using un, une, des, du, de la, de lā€™, de or dā€™

1- Je voudrais 2 kilos ____ pommes sā€™il vous plaĆ®t.
2- Je nā€™ai pas ____ chien.
3- Regarde ! ____ maison rose.
4- Je voudrais ____ gĆ¢teau sā€™il vous plaĆ®t (a whole one)
5- Je voudrais ____ gĆ¢teau sā€™il vous plaĆ®t (a portion of it)
6_ je voudrais ____ part ____ gĆ¢teau sā€™il vous plaĆ®t (a slice of cake).
7- Non merci, je ne veux pas____ gĆ¢teau.
8- Je voudrais ____ eau, sā€™il vous plaĆ®t.
9- Tu as ____ courage.
10- AchĆØte ____ oranges !
11- Voici ____ glace Ć  la vanille.

Answers : 1- de, 2- de, 3- une, 4- un, 5- du, 6- uneā€¦de, 7- de, 8- de lā€™, 9- du, 10- des, 11- une/de la.

VoilĆ , I hope this article made things clearer for you.Ā 

Learn about French definite articles le, la, lā€™, les and their ā€œmutantā€ forms au, aux and du, des.

What about une glace Ć  la fraise et uneĀ confiture de fraises ? Check out my article to figure out why French usesĀ ā€œĆ  laā€ and ā€œdeā€ there.

Learning French in context is the best way to get these French nuances: you enjoy my free French lessons? Weā€™re a 2 people company based in Franceā€¦ Please consider supporting us and check out French Todayā€™s downloadable French audiobooks: French Todayā€™s bilingual novels are recorded at different speeds and enunciation, and focus on todayā€™s modern glided pronunciation.Ā 

I post new articles every week, so make sure you subscribe to the French Today newsletter ā€“ or follow me onĀ Facebook, TwitterĀ andĀ Pinterest.

Please react! Leave a comment, make a suggestion, share this articleā€¦ Your engagement really encourages me to create more free French lessons!

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany.

More Articles from Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Comments

Leave a Comment

DOWNLOAD YOUR FRENCH AUDIOBOOK
šŸŽ 2.5 Hours French Audiobook - 100% Free / Keep Forever šŸŽ

Recorded at 3 different speeds + Study Guide + Q&A + Full Transcript

Item added to cart.
0 items - US$0.00

Can You Understand Todayā€™s Spoken French?

Itā€™s not just slang. The French everybody speaks in France today is NOT the overly enunciated, extremely formal French usually taught to foreigners.

TAKE YOUR FREE AUDIO TEST NOW