The articles du, de la and de l’

So far we’ve come up against two types of article in French, the definite article (le, la, les or l’) and the indefinite article (un, une, des).

There is a third type of article in French called the partitive article. This is the equivalent of some or any in English and refers to an unspecified quantity of something.

In French the partitive article used in front of masculine nouns is du:

Tu veux du chocolat?

Do you want some chocolate?

The partitive article used in front of feminine nouns is de la:

Tu prends de la crème?

Are you having cream?

The partitive article used in front of a noun beginning with a vowel is de l’:

Je bois de l’eau minérale

I’m drinking mineral water