Using le, la, les, du, de la, de, des
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Using le, la, les, du, de la, de, des
Bonsoir Kim,
The following articles are partitive: de, du, de la, and des while these are definite articles: le, la, l' and les.
In this phrase:
On n'aime pas la musique classique. --> We dont like classical music. (we don't like any classical music)
Elle n'aime pas les bonbons. --> She doesn't like sweets. (she doesn't like any sweets)
So here is another example from a lesson:
When things are countable (dogs, cars etc.) and you want to say some, you use des.
Il y a des chiens. --> There are some dogs. or There are dogs.
Bonjour Kim !
The difference is whether you're making a general statement or talking about "some" specific things.
Il aime le fromage is a statement about cheese in general, so you will use "le"
See https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/use-le-la-l-or-les-before-nouns-when-generalising-definite-articles
In a negative sentence, le, la, l', les remain the same:
Il n'aime pas le fromage.
When you say J'adore les concombres, you're talking about cucumbers in general - you couldn't say "I love some cucumbers" here, hence the use of les.
As for "avoir peur", it's a fixed expression always followed by the preposition de (literally to have fear of), so when used with the definite article les, de + les contract into des :
Il a peur des chiens. => He's scared of (the) dogs.
See https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/avoir-peur-de-to-be-afraid-or-scared-of
In the negative, as we said above, les remains the same, so it applies to its contracted form as well:
Il n'a pas peur des chiens.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level