why use du?

Question

Bonjour,I noticed that in the video attached above, sometimes du is used rather than de with retard, for example - J'ai eu du retard / Le train a du retard.While in this lesson, it mentions that "avoir (5 minutes) de retard". Is it when   "avoir ... de retard" uses with no specific time, the "de" can change to "du" ?  Merci d'avance!Tecla

Accepted Answer

Yes, your observation is correct. Let's have a look at those two constructions:
J'ai du retard. -- I am late. (literally: I have some lateness) This sentence uses the partitive article, just like you would in j'ai du pain (I have some bread).
J'ai 5 minute de retard. -- I am 5 minutes late. (literally: I have 5 minutes of lateness). Specifying an amount of "lateness" doesn't require the partitive article. Just like you would say, j'ai une tranche de pain (I have 1 slice of bread).

Answer

Thanks Chris! It's very helpful!