Partitive articles (du / de la / des)
Summary
The partitive article (du, de la, de l', des) expresses an unspecified quantity, like English "some" or "any"; after a negation and after quantity words it reduces to plain de.
Explanation
The partitive article presents part of an uncountable whole — "some bread", "some water" — rather than a whole counted item. Its forms are du before a masculine noun (du pain), de la before a feminine noun (de la confiture), de l' before any singular noun beginning with a vowel or silent h (de l'eau, de l'argent), and des before a plural (des épinards). English often leaves this idea unexpressed, but in French the article is obligatory: you cannot say « je mange pain ».
Choose the partitive when you mean an indefinite amount of something you do not count: food and drink are the classic cases (je bois du café, je mange de la viande), but it also covers abstract mass nouns (avoir du courage, faire de la musique). Contrast this with the definite article for the thing in general (j'aime le café = coffee as such) and the indefinite article un/une for one whole countable unit (un café = one cup of coffee).
The first major adjustment is negation: after a negative verb, all partitive (and indefinite) articles collapse to a single de (or d' before a vowel). « Je bois du café » becomes « je ne bois pas de café »; « je mange des légumes » becomes « je ne mange pas de légumes ». The logic is that a negated quantity is zero, so the gendered/plural form disappears. The one systematic exception is être: « ce n'est pas du café » keeps du, because there is no quantity being negated.
The second adjustment is expressions of quantity: after adverbs and nouns of quantity, you also use plain de, not the full partitive. So beaucoup de pain (a lot of bread), un peu de lait (a little milk), assez de temps (enough time), un kilo de pommes (a kilo of apples), une bouteille de vin (a bottle of wine). A frequent exception is bien des (= beaucoup de), which keeps des: bien des gens (many people).
A practical rule of thumb: if you could insert "some" or "any" in English and the noun is uncountable or a vague plural, use du / de la / de l' / des. Then run two checks — if the sentence is negative (and the verb is not être), switch to de; if there is a quantity word in front, also switch to de. Keep the full partitive only in plain affirmative sentences with no quantity expression.
Examples
Je mange du pain et de la confiture. — I'm eating (some) bread and (some) jam. (du = masc., de la = fem.; English usually omits 'some'.)
Il y a de l'eau dans le verre. — There is (some) water in the glass. (de l' before a vowel (eau is feminine, but the form is the same).)
Je ne bois pas de café. — I don't drink coffee. (After a negation, the partitive becomes de.)
Elle boit beaucoup de thé. — She drinks a lot of tea. (After an expression of quantity (beaucoup), use de, not du.)
Tu veux un peu de lait ? — Do you want a little milk? (un peu de + noun, never un peu du.)
Ce n'est pas du sucre, c'est du sel. — That's not sugar, it's salt. (Exception: after être, the partitive stays du even when negated.)
Common mistakes
Je ne mange pas du pain.
Je ne mange pas de pain.
After a negation, the partitive articles du / de la / de l' / des reduce to a plain de (or d' before a vowel). The negation cancels the idea of "some quantity", so you say « je ne mange pas de pain », not « pas du pain ». This rule does not apply after être: « ce n'est pas du pain » stays du, because there is no quantity being negated, only an identity.
Prerequisites
Related rules
articlespartitivenegationquantity