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The partitive articles are used in French for all food items and drinks. In English it means “some” or “any”
in case of negative. The partitive article is not compulsory in English (i.e. it may / may not be used) but in
French it is compulsory.
The following are the partitive articles in French: du , de la , de l’ , des , de / d’ .
1) Du used for all masculine singular words beginning with a consonant.
Eg: Je mange du pain. I eat some bread.
Il boit du lait. He drinks milk.
3) De l’ use for all masculine or feminine singular words beginning with a vowel or „h‟ mute.
Eg : Elles boivent de l’eau. They drink water.
5) De / d’ used when the sentence is in the negative. (and Verb is not Être)
Eg : Je ne mange pas de pain. I don’t eat bread.
Elle ne prend pas de confiture. She does not have any jam.
Elles ne boivent pas d’eau. They do not drink water.
The partitive aricles are generally used with the following verbs: manger, boire, prendre,
préparer, faire, acheter, cuire, vouloir, ajouter, mélanger…
The partitive articles (du / de la / de l’ / des) are not used; i.e. we use only de / d’ in
the following cases:
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Answers :
1. du ; 2. des ; 3. de l’ ; 4. de la ; 5. de la
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