Look at these sentences:
J'ai vu des endroits magnifiques.
I saw magnificent places.
Il a mangé de magnifiques gâteaux.
He ate some magnificent cakes.
Elsa mange d'excellents cookies.
Elsa eats some excellent cookies.
Note that when the adjective is placed BEFORE a plural noun, the partitive article des (some) becomes de (or d' in front of a vowel or mute h).
ATTENTION:
This rule doesn't apply when des is the contraction of "de + les" (= of/from/to the) :
BUT
Not sure which adjectives tend to go BEFORE the noun?
Then see Short and common adjectives that go BEFORE nouns (adjective position) and Other adjectives that go BEFORE nouns
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
J'ai acheté de nouvelles bottes.
I bought [some] new boots.
J'ai vu des endroits magnifiques.
I saw magnificent places.
Elsa mange d'excellents cookies.
Elsa eats some excellent cookies.
J'achète de beaux draps.
I buy nice sheets.
Il a mangé de magnifiques gâteaux.
He ate some magnificent cakes.
Counter example
Je suis jalouse des nouvelles bottes que tu as achetées.
I'm jealous of the new boots you bought.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6/06/18
Usually magnifique is placed after the noun but it may also come first for emphasis.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/06/18
Hi Nabeel,
Magnifique is one adjective that can be used before or after the noun but without its meaning being affected.
Hope this helps!
SAI
Kwiziq community member
16/06/18
Lisa
Kwiziq community member
6 July 2017
3 replies
I don't understand why it isn't d'endroits magnifiques then?
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
6/07/17
The rule is that des becomes de in front of an adjective + noun. Endroits magnifiques is a noun + adjective, so des remains des.
Maloyendra
Kwiziq community member
27/05/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/05/18
Bonjour Maloyendra !
Actually, it's one of these cases where although many French people make that mistake, it is indeed grammatically incorrect to use "des" in this context:
Bonne journée !
Michael
Kwiziq community member
24 December 2016
2 replies
Shouldn't "J'ai vu des endroits magnifiques" translate as "I've seen some magnificient places?"
Here "des" precedes the noun, not an adjective, and therefore it does not become "de" or "d'" but it is still the partitive indefinite article "some."
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
27/12/16
In French, "des" is both the partitive "some", but also the plural form of "un/une" (a), which in English would be a zero article:
I eat apples = I eat some apples = "Je mange des pommes."
I hope that's helpful!
Bonnes Fêtes et à bientôt !
Michael
Kwiziq community member
27/12/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22/07/16
The regular rule is to place "long" adjectives (3 or more syllables) AFTER the noun. However, they can also be placed BEFORE when expressing an "affective", subjective opinion. Therefore, adjectives such as "magnifique", "délicieux", "énorme"... can be used in either position.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Michael
Kwiziq community member
24/12/16
Anyway, Tres complique! So the BAGS (adjectives of Beauty, Age, Goodness or Size precede the noun) rule gets "overruled" by the 3-syllable rule which gets overruled by the "'affective', subjective opinion" rule? What is "affective", subjective? Aren't all opinions subjective?
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
23/09/17
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
14 July 2018
2 replies
Adjectif+ noun and des
Bon jour,
I still don't understand why des changes to de or d' . If it's a vowel it's fine but adjectif+ noun ,why in this case . Why des changes ,how does it make a difference to the sentence.
In case of partitive article ,while doing negation des changes to de as there is no quantity. That's understandable.
What's the rule here ,as it's article des.
Thank you.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
16 July 2018
16/07/18
The rule is simply this: use de imstead of des when there is an adjective betwixt it and the noun. That's all.
J'avais de grandes voitures. -- I had big cars.
J'avais des voitures. -- I had cars.
-- Chris. (Sorry for the not very imaginative examples).
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
17 July 2018
17/07/18