Basic French Grammar Topics
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Course Content
French Greetings3 Topics -
Subject Pronouns3 Topics
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The Verb "to be"4 Topics
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The Verb "to have"3 Topics
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Negative Sentences3 Topics
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The Definite Article3 Topics
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The Indefinite Article3 Topics
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Zero Article3 Topics
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Partitive Articles3 Topics
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Adjectives4 Topics
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The Order of Adjectives3 Topics
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-ER Verbs (present)3 Topics
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Possessive Adjectives3 Topics
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Interrogatives4 Topics
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-IR Verbs (present tense)3 Topics
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-RE Verbs (present tense)3 Topics
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Possession3 Topics
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The Verb "to make" "to do"3 Topics
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Weather Expressions4 Topics
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Numbers 1-1004 Topics
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The Date3 Topics
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Telling Time3 Topics
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The Expression "there is" "there are"3 Topics
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The Verb "to go"2 Topics
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The Near Future3 Topics
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The Expression "it is necessary"3 Topics
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Demonstrative Adjectives3 Topics
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Possessive Pronouns3 Topics
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The Verb "to put"3 Topics
Participants 257
A partitive article is used when you refer to something that is unquantifiable or immeasurable. Most often, the partitive article is translated to the English word, “some” or “any.”
I want some photos of the trip.
I do not want to make any mistakes.
As previously explained, much of French grammar relies on the gender and number of what in the sentence is being discussed. There are four different ways to express the partitive articles in French. The partitive articles are created by combining the word de (which can mean “of,” “from,” or “about”) with the four definite articles le, la, l’, or les.
Partitive Article | Label | Example | Translation |
de + le = du | Masculin singular | Je voudrais du café. | I would like some coffee. |
de + la = de la | Feminine singular | Je mange de la pizza le vendredi. | I eat some pizza on Fridays. |
de + les = des | Masc./Fem. plural | Les enfants ont des légumes avec le dîner. | The children have some vegetables with dinner. |
de + l’ = de l’ | Masc./Fem. Before vowel | Je prends de l’eau, s’il vous plaît. | I’ll take some water, please. |
In these examples, all of the partitive article variations translate to “some” in English, yet there are differences based on the gender and number of the word they describe.
Notes:
- Discussed in Module 7: Indefinite Articles, we learned how to change any indefinite article (un/une) to de in a negative sentence. De in this sense, is also a partitive article. Remember that in negative sentences, this translates to “any.
Affirmative: Negative:
Vous avez du chocolat. Vous n’avez pas de chocolat.
You have some chocolate. You don’t have any chocolate.
- The combinations used to create the partitive articles can also translate literally to the French word combinations. Meaning, the partitive article combinations above can also be understood as:
de + le/la/les/l’ = of + the → of the
de + le/la/les/l’ = from + the → from the
de + le/la/les/l’ = about + the → aout the
Knowing whether or not the combination translates to the partitive article “some” or to one of these variations depends on the context of the sentence.