Confusion with du, de la, de l', des The partitive articles (du, de la, de l' and des) can be identical in form to the contraction of "de + definite article" when dealing with quantities, adjectives and prepositional phrases. But they are separate elements of grammar? Is this correct?
If so, I've been incorrectly thinking that the partitive articles WERE those contractions in action.
A few questions arise,
1) is it correct that there are three meanings of "des" (not just two)?
- des, the partitive article (and presumably not a contraction of "de les"?)
- des, the indefinite article (not a contraction)
- des, the contraction of a phrase/quantity/adjective involving "...de les (specific plural noun)..."
2) is it correct that there are two meanings of "du" (not just one)?
- du, the partitive article
- du, the contraction of a phrase/quantity/adjective involving "...de le (specific singular masculine noun)..."
...and likewise for de la, de l'?
3) are the partitive articles meant to be thought of as a single grammatical unit and not as a contraction of the preposition "de" + definite article?
For reference, I consulted
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-quantity/
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/partitive-article/
Hi there,
I just did one test and I got a half score because I dropped an accent from an upper case É. I learnt that you don't put accents on upper case letters somewhere before. What is the correct way?
Thanks,
A small question. Tiers-Monde or tiers-monde ?
Should Tiers-Monde really be capitalised ?
I've looked at 3 dictionaries and it is spelt in lower case in all of them. If I was taking an exam , would either answer be acceptable ?
Any general rules about this ?
Thanks , Paul.
The partitive articles (du, de la, de l' and des) can be identical in form to the contraction of "de + definite article" when dealing with quantities, adjectives and prepositional phrases. But they are separate elements of grammar? Is this correct?
If so, I've been incorrectly thinking that the partitive articles WERE those contractions in action.
A few questions arise,
1) is it correct that there are three meanings of "des" (not just two)?
- des, the partitive article (and presumably not a contraction of "de les"?)
- des, the indefinite article (not a contraction)
- des, the contraction of a phrase/quantity/adjective involving "...de les (specific plural noun)..."
2) is it correct that there are two meanings of "du" (not just one)?
- du, the partitive article
- du, the contraction of a phrase/quantity/adjective involving "...de le (specific singular masculine noun)..."
...and likewise for de la, de l'?
3) are the partitive articles meant to be thought of as a single grammatical unit and not as a contraction of the preposition "de" + definite article?
For reference, I consulted
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-quantity/
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/partitive-article/
I don't understand why "You're taking a walk with Greg - Tu promènes Greg." was marked as incorrect in the quiz. My dog Greg is very affectionate. Am I missing something or is the question wrong?
Does courir have this quirky root because it is part of that messy 3rd group of verbs, and is grouped with things like aller, faire, prendre, voir, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir,. Is it right there's no real pattern here, you just have to learn them?
Is there a general rule in French about when to spell out numbers? For example in american english I think the rule is to spell out numbers ten or less and just use the number when greater than ten (eg, 12 instead of twelve). Thanks!
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