French Prepositions and Articles
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The preposition de can be very difficult for French students, even at advanced levels. Knowing whether to use du, de la, or des rather than just de can be a real challenge! This lesson is a detailed explanation of when to use the preposition de all by itself and when to use the indefinite article, partitive article, or de + definite article (which looks like the partitive – but isn’t. Ugh!)
There are four types of constructions that lead to the de vs du, de la, des confusion. Click these links for detailed lessons with plenty of examples:
1) Partitive and indefinite articles
Je veux du pain.
vs
Je ne veux pas de pain.
2) Quantities, adjectives, and prepositional phrases
J’ai regardé beaucoup de films.
vs
Beaucoup des films que j’ai regardés …
3) Descriptive de vs possessive de
le livre d’étudiant
vs
le livre de l’étudiant
4) Verbs and expressions followed by de
J’ai besoin d’argent.
vs
J’ai besoin de l’argent que tu me dois.
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Is your French as rusty as an old can? Did you live in France years ago or study it in high school—and promptly forget everything upon leaving? The fact is that language ability fades with lack of practice. If you used to know French but haven’t spoken it in years or decades, the bad news is that it probably won’t come rushing back all at once. But the good news is that you can relearn it much more quickly than if you were starting out without that previous knowledge.
N’importe literally means “no matter” or “(it) doesn’t matter.” This indefinite expression can precede an interrogative adjective, adverb, or pronoun when talking about something indefinite or non-specific.