de vs. de la

Nick H.A2Kwiziq community member

de vs. de la

Nous mangeons du poulet.

Nous prenons un peu de poulet.

The first sentence is "de + le poulet" but the second is "de poulet". Is this because of the "un peu" modifier? What's the rule? 

Asked 3 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Nick,

1.  Nous mangeons du poulet 

'du' is a partitive article, meaning 'some'

Using du, de la, de l', des to express some or any (partitive articles)

It could be -

nous mangeons de la viande = we are eating (some) meat

nous mangeons des légumes = we are eating (some) vegetables

nous mangeons de la confiture = we are eating (some) jam

2. Nous mangeons un peu de poulet 

uses 'un peu de' which means a bit of / a small quantity of something 

Quelque(s) vs (un) peu de = A couple/a few vs a bit of/few (indefinite adjectives)

je mange un peu de viande = I am eating a bit of meat 

je mange un peu de confiture = I am eating a bit of jam

je mange un peu de légumes = I am eating a few vegetables

Hope this helps!

nicole r.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

When you have a preposition plus the article such as de + le it then becomes du. Here is a link below

Definite articles contract with à and de in French (French Contracted Articles)

de vs. de la

Nous mangeons du poulet.

Nous prenons un peu de poulet.

The first sentence is "de + le poulet" but the second is "de poulet". Is this because of the "un peu" modifier? What's the rule? 

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