Du, De la, Des or De: French Partitives and Negation
Understand quantities and the frequent change to de after negation.
FR005 · FR · A1 / A2 · grammar
The question
Why does Je bois du café become Je ne bois pas de café?
French often uses du, de la or de l' for unspecified amounts of substances: du pain, de la soupe, de l'eau. Des commonly introduces an unspecified plural: des pommes. In many negative sentences with an indefinite or partitive object, these forms change to de or d'.
Affirmative and negative
| Affirmative | Negative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je bois du lait. | Je ne bois pas de lait. | I drink / don't drink milk. |
| Elle mange de la soupe. | Elle ne mange pas de soupe. | She eats / doesn't eat soup. |
| Nous avons des pommes. | Nous n'avons pas de pommes. | We have / don't have apples. |
| Il achète de l'eau. | Il n'achète pas d'eau. | He buys / doesn't buy water. |
The definite article usually remains after negation when referring to something specific or a category: Je n'aime pas le café (I don't like coffee). After être, an indefinite article can also remain: Ce n'est pas un problème. Therefore 'all articles change to de after negation' is not a valid rule.
Common mistake
Avoid *Je ne veux pas du pain when you mean 'I don't want any bread' in a general quantity sense: Je ne veux pas de pain. The form pas du pain can occur when rejecting specific bread in contrast to something else.
Remember
After negation, indefinite and partitive objects often take de/d', but definite articles and some constructions behave differently.