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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 |
| 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) |
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
- Definite article
- Demonstrative adjective
- Descriptions
- Determiners
- Possessive adjective
- Prepositions with nouns
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Je me demande si vous connaissez un site semblable à celui-ci pour des francophones qui apprennent l’anglais
C’est un site extraordinaire!
Merci. 🙂 Non, désolée. J’ai un site pour les Francophones qui apprennent l’anglais, mais il est plus petit : Apprendre l’anglais