Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)

Bonjour Blake !

The article "des" is only used with plural nouns, hence its contraction applying to only plural cases :)

Regarder means "to look at".

Je regarde la maison. -- I look at the house.
Je regarde de belles collines. -- I look at beautiful hills.

It isn't "de" that means "at". The "at" is part of the verb "regarder".

But, strictly speaking, the sentence:

Je regarde des collines is ambiguous. It can mean "I look at hills" as well as "I look from hills".

...de beaux draps can be translated as "some nice sheets" or "nice sheets". Two versions in English for the same French sentence.

There is not a one-to-one correspondence between every possible sentence in English to every possible sentence in French. Most of the time, there are several ways to express something in the other language. That's why it is so important to force yourself to think in French rather than cling to translating word for word.

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). 

Usually magnifique is placed after the noun but it may also come first for emphasis. 

-- Chris (not a native speaker). 

Hi Nabeel,

Magnifique is one adjective that can be used before or after the noun but without its meaning being affected. 

Hope this helps!

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 !