How to distinguish between partitive articles du, de la, de l' ,des and FROM.

Zubair S.A1Kwiziq community member

How to distinguish between partitive articles du, de la, de l' ,des and FROM.

They both contain the word "DE".
Asked 8 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Zubair !

That's a very good remark, and it works for the partitive articles (some), for "from the", but also "of the" which are both expressed with "DE + definite article" in French.
The answer I can give you is that context is the only way to differenciate them.

Here are some examples to practice :)
1- Je mange du pain. (I eat [some] bread. -> partitive)
2- J'ai sauté du bateau.  (I jumped from the boat.)
3- J'aime la sœur du facteur.   (I love the postman's sister -> the sister of the postman)

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

 

Dragana E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I struggle with this a lot. So it is comforting to know that Laura K Lawless confirms in her article that "de can be very difficult for French students, even at advanced levels."

Read this site for explanation - It helped me.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des/

How to distinguish between partitive articles du, de la, de l' ,des and FROM.

They both contain the word "DE".

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