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Partitive Articles: du, de la, des

FoundationHigherAQA

Understand Partitive Articles: du, de la, des for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Partitive articles express part of a whole, and are used after jouer with instruments and faire with sports.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

The partitive article means some or any and is used for an unspecified quantity of something.

It has four forms: du for masculine, de la for feminine, de l' before a vowel, and des for plurals. So je mange du pain, je bois de la limonade, je prends de l'eau, j'achète des pommes.

English frequently omits the word some — I eat bread, I drink lemonade — but French cannot. Every one of these sentences needs its partitive article. Missing it out is probably the single most common French error at GCSE, because English simply does not require the equivalent word.

Revision notes

The four forms

Du: masculine. De la: feminine. De l': before a vowel or silent h. Des: plural.

Je mange du pain. Je bois de la limonade. Je prends de l'eau. J'achète des pommes.

Why English speakers omit it

English says I eat bread, with no article at all.

French requires je mange du pain. The partitive cannot be dropped, and omitting it is the most frequent article error at GCSE precisely because English gives no prompt to include it.

Partitive versus definite

Du pain means some bread — an unspecified amount.

Le pain means bread in general, or the specific bread already mentioned. J'aime le pain means I like bread generally; je mange du pain means I am eating some bread.

Key points

  • The partitive means some or any.
  • Du is used for masculine nouns.
  • De la is used for feminine nouns.
  • De l' is used before a vowel.
  • Des is used for plurals.
  • The partitive cannot be omitted.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: I eat bread. [2 marks]

Working

Je mange du painuse the masculine partitive article
Du is required even though English omits someexplain why the article is needed

Example 2

Translate: I drink water. [2 marks]

Working

Je bois de l'eauuse de l' before the vowel
De l' is used because eau begins with a vowel soundexplain the form chosen

Example 3

Explain the difference between j'aime le chocolat and je mange du chocolat. [2 marks]

Working

J'aime le chocolat means I like chocolate in general, using the definite articleexplain the first
Je mange du chocolat means I am eating some chocolate, an unspecified amountexplain the second

Common mistakes

  • Omitting the partitive entirely.

    Je mange pain is wrong; it must be je mange du pain.

  • Using le instead of du.

    Le pain means bread in general; du pain means some bread.

  • Using du before a vowel.

    Use de l' instead: de l'eau, not du eau.

  • Forgetting des for plurals.

    J'achète des pommes, not j'achète pommes.

Exam tips

  • Never omit the partitive article.
  • Match the form to the noun's gender and first letter.
  • Distinguish some from in general.
  • Use de l' before any vowel sound.

Key terms

Partitive article
Du, de la, de l' or des, meaning some or any.
Unspecified quantity
An amount that is not counted or measured.
Du
The masculine partitive form.
De la
The feminine partitive form.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.