Grammar Rules Flashcards
Elsa eats excellent cakes
Elsa mange de magnifique gâteaux
In French, the partitive article “des” becomes “de/d’…” when it is placed in front of an adjective that is preceding nouns.
Using de/d’ in front of adjectives preceding nouns:
J’ai vu des endroits magnifiques.
I saw magnificent places.
Il a mangé de magnifiques gâteaux.
He ate some magnificent cakes.
Elsa mange d’excellents cookies.
Elsa eats some excellent cookies.
J’achète de beaux draps.
I buy nice sheets.
Note that when the adjective is placed before a plural noun starting with a vowel,* the partitive article des becomes de and then d’ in front of the vowel or mute h. (D’excellents cookies)
ATTENTION:
This rule doesn’t apply when des is the contraction of “de + les” where meaning of/from/to the:
J’ai acheté de nouvelles bottes.
I bought [some] new boots.
BUT
Je suis jalouse des nouvelles bottes que tu as achetées.
I’m jealous of the new boots you bought.
