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?
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?
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!
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)
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