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De vs du, de la, des
Sometimes the choice between de and du, de la, des is simply a question of whether you’re describing a noun or indicating a possessor.
1. To show possession of a noun, use de + definite article:
| le livre de l’étudiant le livre des étudiants |
the student’s book the students’ book |
belongs to the student(s) |
| le panier du chien | the dog’s basket | belongs to the dog |
Unless it’s a proper noun:
| le livre de Jean-Luc | Jean-Luc’s book | |
| le panier de Bijou | Bijou’s basket |
or there’s some other determiner such as a demonstrative adjective or possessive adjective:
| le livre de cet étudiant | this student’s book | |
| le panier de mon chien | my dog’s basket |
2. To describe a noun, use de + descriptive noun construction:
| le livre d’étudiant | student book | the book for or about students | |
| le panier de chien | dog basket | the basket for a dog |
3. To distinguish one noun among a group, use de + definite article. This is often used in advertising.
| le livre de l’étudiant étranger | foreign student book foreign student’s book |
book for foreign students book that belongs to Felipe |
| le panier du chien délicat | discriminating dog’s basket | basket for discriminating dogs (there are two dogs; this basket is for the discriminating one) |
This can be tricky, because this construction looks like it could be either descriptive or possessive.
More about de vs du, de la, des
Introduction
Partitive and indefinite articles
Quantities, adjectives, and prepositional phrases
Descriptive de vs possessive de
Verbs and expressions with de
Quiz on de vs du, de la, des
Related lessons
- Definite article
- Demonstrative adjective
- Descriptions
- Determiners
- Possessive adjective
- Prepositions with nouns
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