How French works
Generally the indefinite article and partitive article in French take the form de after the negative constructions ne ... pas, ne ... jamais, ne ... plus and ne ... guère:
J'ai une voiture → Je n'ai pas de voiture
I have a car - I don't have a car
J'ai du tabac → Je n'ai pas de tabac
I have some tabacco - I don't have any tabacco
Generally no article is used after the preposition sans (which is in effect a negative):
Il est actuellement sans emploi
He's currently unemployed
Elle prend toujours son thé sans lait
She always has her tea without milk
The rule does not apply, however, if the negative refers to the identity of the noun in question rather than to its quantity. This applies to the following circumstances:
Ce n'est pas une maison du 18ième siècle
It's not an 18th-century house
Ce n'était pas un bon élève quand il était jeune
He wasn't a good student when he was young
Where a distinction is being made between two nouns :
Nous n'avons pas mangé du boeuf mais du porc
We didn't eat beef but pork
Where un or une represents the number one or has the sense of a single one:
Je n'ai pas vu un [seul] enfant
I didn't see one [or a single] child
Remember that du, de l', de la and des are not always the partitive article or the plural indefinite article but can also be the definite article preceded by de. In this case they remain unchanged in the negative :
Il ne se souvenait pas de l'enfant
He didn't remember the child
The article is generally absent before the complement of an intensive verb such as être, devenir, paraître etc. when putting someone in a general class, profession etc:
Il est avocat depuis 1986
He's been a lawyer since 1986
On dit qu'il était résistant pendant la guerre
They say he was in the Resistance during the war
Il a été nommé Directeur Général en 1996
He was made Managing Director in 1996
This is not the case after c'est:
C'est un socialiste / conservateur
He's a socialist / conservative
An article is also present where the name of profession etc. is modified by a describing word or phrase such as an adjective , noun complement or relative clause . This is because the modifying information narrows the frame of reference from the general to the particular. Compare for example:
Marie est journaliste à L’Express
Marie's a journalist with L'Express
Marie est un très bon journaliste
Marie's a very good journalist
Compare also:
Mr Dupont est professeur de maths à l’école de notre fille
Mr Dupont is a maths teacher at our daughter's school
Mr Dupont est le professeur de maths de ma fille
Mr Dupont is my daughter's maths teacher
Mr Dupont est le professeur de maths avec qui nous avons parlé
Mr Dupont is the maths teacher we talked with
When a common noun (such as maire) is inserted after a proper noun (such as Mme Chevalier) to provide identification, the common noun is said to be in apposition . The article is often absent before a noun used in apposition:
Mme Chevalier, maire de la ville depuis 1996, s'est déclarée contre le projet
Mme Chevalier, the town's mayor since 1996, declared herself to be against the plan
However, the definite article is generally used when the noun in apposition is modified, for example, by an adjective:
On parlait de Raymond Devos, le célèbre comique
They were talking of Raymond Devos, the famous comedian
In written French des generally takes the form de when the noun has a preceding adjective :
des nouvelles → de bonnes nouvelles
(some) good news
des fleurs → de jolies fleurs
(some) pretty flowers
However it remains unchanged when adjective and noun are so strongly associated as to constitute an idiom :
des petits pains, du bon sens
some bread rolls, common sense
Furthermore, this rule is generally not observed in spoken French:
T’as eu des bonnes notes à l'examen?
Did you get good marks in the exam?
In general no article is present before a noun complement introduced by de or à, that is when the preposition + noun acts as an adjective :
un profil de carrière, les conditions de travail
a career profile, working conditions
un réseau d'ordinateurs, les patrons d'industrie
a computer network, company bosses
un couteau à découper, une corbeille à linge
a carving knife, a laundry basket
There are, however, some exceptions:
l'égalité des rémunérations, la crise du logement
equal pay, the housing crisis
Furthermore, when the noun complement itself is modified by a describing word, the article is generally present. Compare for example:
mes clefs de voiture
my car keys
les clefs de la voiture de mon père
the keys to my father's car
Generally the articles du, de l', de la and des are omitted in constructions involving the preposition de. These can be divided into two categories (in addition to the noun complement construction mentioned in section 5 above):
These include all numerical constructions (un million de personnes / une dizaine de fois) plus more general expressions of quantity such as:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| beaucoup / peu de bruit | a lot of / not much noise |
| plus / moins d’argent | more / less money |
| tant de jeunes | so many young people |
| trop / assez de travail | too much / enough work |
| un demi-kilo de beurre | half a kilo of butter |
| une bouteille de vin | a bottle of wine |
Exceptions are: la plupart, bien, la majeure partie, la majorité, encore.
Nous avons eu bien du mal à les convaincre
We had a lot of difficulty convincing them
Note, however, that expressions such as beaucoup de, tant de etc. do take du, de la, de l', des when the noun in question is specific (it will usually be preceded by the in English). Compare, for example:
Il y a beaucoup de cadres qui sont d’accord avec les mesures
There are a lot of managers who agree with the measures
Beaucoup des cadres interrogés ont dit qu’ils étaient d’accord avec les mesures
A lot of the managers questioned said that they agreed with the measures
These include certain verbs followed by de, or certain adjectives or nouns forming part of a verb construction, such as : manquer de, changer de, parler de, charger de, être vêtu de, être couvert de, être plein de, être dépourvu de, avoir besoin de, faire preuve de.
Il ne manque pas de détracteurs
He's not short of critics
Elle a fait preuve de courage et de perspicacité en prenant cette décision
She showed courage and vision in taking this decision
As with the rule regarding expressions of quantity, the above verbs or verbal expressions can be followed by du, de la, de l', des when the noun in question is specific. Compare, for example:
J’ai besoin d’argent pour finir le projet
I need money to finish the project
J’ai besoin de l’argent que tu m’as promis pour finir le projet
I need the money you promised me to finish the project
The article is generally omitted in lists:
Tout est en solde: jupes, robes, vestes, pantalons, pullovers, manteaux
Everything's on sale: skirts, dresses, jackets, trousers, jumpers, coats
This is also true for newspaper headlines, book titles, classified advertisements etc:
Chômage en baisse
Unemployment down
Dictionnaire de la langue française
Dictionary of the French Language
Maison à vendre / Cadre 29 ans rech. emploi
House for sale / Manager 29 seeks work