Grammaire 2: l’article partitif
On étudie !
It’s time to go into town and do some shopping. What are we going to buy? Are we going to buy “some milk” or are we going to buy a “carton of milk”? Do we need some bread or do we need “some loaves of bread”? Are we going to drink “some coffee” or are we going to drink “a couple of coffees”. In order to make these decisions, we should take a look at partitive articles!
Les articles
You are already familiar with the definite and indefinite articles (un, une, des).
Definite articles (le, la,l’, les) corresponds to ‘the’ in English. They agree in gender and number with the noun they modify (are followed by). Remember that le and la become l’ in front of a word beginning with a vowel or mute h.
| masculin | féminin | |
|---|---|---|
| singulier | le parc (the parc) | la bibliothèque (the library) |
| singulier | l’hôpital (the hospital) | l’épicerie (the grocery stores) |
| pluriel | les parcs, les hôpitaux | les bibliothèques, les épiceries |
Indefinite articles ((un, une, des) corresponds to ‘a/an’ or ‘some’ in English. Unlike definite articles, indefinite articles are mainly used to indicate an unspecified or unidentified noun. They also agree in gender and number with the noun the modify (are followed by).
| masculin | féminin | |
|---|---|---|
| singulier | un centre-ville (downtown) | une école primaire (a primary school) |
| pluriel | des magasins ((some) shops) | des rues ((some) streets) |
Les partitifs
Now we will look at a third kind of article called partitives. These are formed by combining the preposition de with a singular definite article: du, de la, de l’, des.
Partitive articles indicate an unspecified quantity of a noun (nouns that normally cannot be counted, like “sugar”, “sand”, “money”, or that don’t need to be counted). They are similar to the word “some”, ”any” (which is often omitted in English). In French, the partitive article is necessary. Here are some examples:
Je prends de l’eau. (I’m having (some) water.)
Tu veux du café ? (Do you want (some) coffee?)
Il a du papier dans son bureau. (He has (some) paper in his/her office.)
J’ai mis de la confiture sur le pain. (I put (some) jelly on the bread.)
Ma mère achète des pâtisseries. (My mother buys (some) pastries.)
Notes
(a) When you negate the examples above, you will just use de or d’.
Je ne prends pas d’eau.
Tu ne veux pas de café ?
Il n’a pas de papier dans son bureau.
Je n’ai pas mis de confiture.
(b) The partitive article does not always translate to ‘some’ in English:
— Qu’est-ce que tu vas acheter au supermarché ? (What are you going to buy at the supermarket?)
— Du pain, de la bière et de l’eau minérale. (Bread, beer and mineral water.)
(c) When discussing food and beverages, partitive articles are generally used along with verbs of consumption/desires (manger, prendre, boire, acheter, avoir, vouloir). However, verbs of preferences (aimer, préférer, adorer, détester) are generally followed by a definite article.
J’adore le pain! (
dupain) (I love bread!)Je mange du pain tous les jours. (I buy bread everyday.)
Marie boit de l’eau minérale. (Marie drinks mineral water.)
Here is a summary of all the French articles:
Tableau récapitulatif des articles
| Articles | Négation | |
|---|---|---|
| Articles indéfinis |
un (m. sing.) une (f. sing.) des (m., f. pl.) |
de, d’ |
| Articles définis |
le (m. sing.) la (f. sing.) l’ (m., f. sing.) les (m., f. pl.) |
le (m. sing.) la (f. sing.) l’ (m., f. sing.) les (m., f. pl.) |
| Articles partitifs |
du (m. sing.) de la (f. sing.) de l’ (m., f. sing.) des (m., f. pl.) |
de, d’ |
Les expressions de quantité
As you saw above, partitive articles and indefinite articles become de or d‘ in negative sentences. Expressions of quantity are also always followed by de (d’). In many ways, simply learn those expressions as a block of words (i.e. ”beaucoup de”).
| Français | Anglais | Français | Anglais |
|---|---|---|---|
| un peu de | a little (of) | beaucoup de | a lot (of), many |
| assez de | enough (of) | trop de | too much, too many |
| combien de | how much, how many | une tasse de | a cup of |
| une bouteille de | a bottle of | un verre de | a glass of |
– Combien de cours as-tu ce semestre?
(How many courses do you ave this semester?)
– J’ai trop de cours: j’en ai 6!
(I have too many: I have 6 of them!)
Paul a beaucoup d‘amis bilingues: il a des amis de toutes les cultures.
(Paul as lots of friend. He has friends of all cultures.)
Je bois trois verres d’eau par jour.
(I drink 3 glasses of water per day).
