As shown by their name, these articles deal with part of something rather than a whole item. The same difference exists in English where you can say "I eat the cake" (meaning that there will be nothing left in the plate because you will have eaten the whole cake) or you can say "I eat some cake". In this case, you eat a slice of the cake rather that the whole thing. This is what partitive articles are used for, things that you eat, drink, or see a part of. The forms are as follows:
^2 SINGULAR^4 TRANSLATION
MASCULINE^2 du^4 some, any
^2 de l'^4 some, any
FEMININE^2 de la^4 some, any
^2 de l'^4 some, any
Partitives are also used with nouncountable nouns such as eau (water), lait (milk), sucre (sugar), viande (meat).
`de {l'}eau, `du lait, `du sucre, `de `la viande
In the plural, French uses des if the quantity is countable.
Vous mangez `du `poisson.^4 Maybe you are eating part of
(You eat some fish)^4 fish filet or fish portion.
Vous achetez `des `poissons.^4 At the fish market, you could be
(You buy fish)^4 buying three or four whole fish.
In a negative construction, all the partitive forms are replaced by de.
Vous mangez `du poisson.
Vous ne mangez pas `de poisson.
Il y a `des livres sur la table.
Il n' y a pas `de livres sur la table.
This rule does not apply when the verb Ωtre (to be) is used:
C'est du poulet.^4 Ce n'est pas du poulet.
(It's chicken)^4 (It isn't chicken)
Expressing quantities in the affirmative and in the negative.
There are two types of quantities in French. There are quantities that are obvious like `beaucoup (a lot) or `un `peu (a little). There are also quantities that are not as obvious such as `un `verre `de (a glass of) or `une `assiette `de (a plate of).
After the quantity, you need to use de or d' to introduce the noun modified by the quantity. De or d' replaces the article:
Je bois `du lait.^4 Je bois <beaucoup `de lait.
(I drink some milk)^4 (I drink a lot of milk)
Elle mange `de `la salade^4 Elle mange <une <assiette `de salade.
(She eats some salad)^4 (She eats a plateful of salad)
When you use the quantity in a <negative construction, you also need to use de or d' to introduce the modified noun. De or d' replaces the article:
Je bois beaucoup de lait.^4 Je <ne bois <pas beaucoup `de lait
(I drink a lot of milk)^4 (I do not drink a lot of milk)
Expressing negations.
The French negation is usually made up of two parts which are placed around the verb this negation modifies. The part which is placed in front of the verb is ne. The one which follows the modified verb varies according to the negation. Look at these examples.
Je vois le match.^4 Je `ne vois `pas le match.
(I see the game)^4 (I do not see the game)
Je vais regarder la tΘlΘ.^4 Je `ne vais `pas regarder la tΘlΘ.
(I am going to watch t.v.)^4 (I am not going to watch t.v.)
The more common negations (ne ...pas, ne ... jamais, ne ... plus, ne ... rien) all function in this same manner.
To ask negative questions, place the ne in front of the verb and the second part of the negation after the subject pronoun, as shown in the examples below:
Aimes-tu la musique?^4 {N'}aimes-tu `pas la musique?
Do you like music? ^4 Don't you like music?
Henri mange-t-il α midi?^4 Henri `ne mange-t-il `rien α midi?
Does Henry eat at noon?^4 Doesn't Henry eat anything at noon?
