l;un des pittoresques bateaux-mouches

Question

I was thinking it would be "de" instead of des since the adjective is before the noun.  What am I missing?  Thank you.

Accepted Answer

Hi Laura, 
This rule is for the partitive article 'des' (some).
Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)
In this case :
l'un des pittoresques bateaux-mouches = one of the picturesque ...
de is the preposition de + les =des
so it doesn't change.

Answer

Hi Laura,"un bateau-mouche"The introduction text states as above with the use of "un" as the article.This would indicate that an indefinite article is required and your point would be valid.However, your query suggests that "l'un" was employed thereby indicating that a definite article is being used. If I am correct then we would have the situation of"de" preposition followed by "les" plural (des bateaux-mouches) and in this case, there will be no change to the article before the adjective.Hope this helps.Jim