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• Partitive articles are some and any in English, or de followed by the definite article in French.

• The partitive article is du for masculine singular nouns, de la for feminine singular nouns, de ��’ for nouns starting with a vowel or h muet (silent h) and des for plural nouns.

• Partitive articles are used with some common verbs such as avoir (to have), faire (to do, used with sports) and manger (to eat).

• Use de but omit the definite article before nouns following a verb in the negative and with expressions of quantity such as beaucoup de (lots of).

• Higher Tier - use partitive articles with uncountable nouns, such as water, to mean some or any.

Some and any are partitive articles and are used to refer to an unknown quantity of something. In French, the partitive article is formed with de (‘of’) and the definite article.

The partitive article changes depending on whether the noun it goes with is masculine, feminine, starts with a vowel or h muet (silent h) or plural.

Partitive articles are used with some common verbs, such as those in the examples below:

De is used with no article (le, la, ��’ or les) in certain situations.

• When using negative expressions such as ne … pas (not any), ne … plus (no more) and ne … jamais (never), with a verb such as avoir (to have).

For example:

• Je n’ai pas de chat. – I don’t have a cat.

• Mes parents n’ont jamais ��’argent. – My parents never have any money.

• With expressions of quantity such as beaucoup de (a lot of), trop de (too much) and plus de (more).

For example:

Il y a beaucoup ��’enfants ici. – There are a lot of children here.

Le prof donne trop de devoirs. – The teacher gives too much homework.

Je voudrais un peu plus de chocolat, s’il vous plaît. – I would like a bit more chocolate, please.

Remember

Before a vowel or h muet (silent h), de becomes ��’.

For example:

• Il n’y a plus ��’eau dans la bouteille. – There is no more water in the bottle.

Practise what you’ve learned about partitive articles with this quiz.

Countable nouns are objects that can be counted, such as brother or cat. These can be used in singular and plural forms.

Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, such as water. These are usually used in the singular form.

It is not possible to say eg 'I am going to drink two waters'. The partitive articles some and any need to be used with uncountable nouns, as in 'I am going to drink some water'.

This is the same in French. Use du, de la or de ��’ with uncountable nouns to mean some or any.

For example:

• Je vais manger du chocolat. – I am going to eat some chocolate.

• Tu as de ��’argent? – Do you have any money?

Practise what you’ve learned about partitive articles with this quiz.

Now you’ve learned about partitive articles in French, why not explore the gender of nouns in French?