The article "De" used with uncountable nouns
In French the article "de" always accompanies nouns which
can not be measured, when they are used as direct objects.
The article "de" can only be found in singular form (masculine
and feminine) and although there is no direct translation in English,
its' meaning can be "some" "a little":
| Masculine singular |
Du |
| Femenine singular |
De la |
Here are some examples:
| Je bois du lait |
I drink milk |
| Tu manges de la viande |
You eat meat |
| J'achète du pain |
I buy the bread |
"Milk" and "meat" are generic nouns that define
a type of product, they are not countable (you can not count milk
or meat). With the article "de" it indicates that the action
(drink or eat) falls on a determined quantity of this produce (you
drink a little milk, etc but you don't drink all of the milk).
It would be different if, for example, I say, "Je bois un verre
de lait" (I drink a glass of milk), as a "glass" is
countable, which is why in this example you don't use the article
"de".
With negative sentences, the article only has one form regardless
if it is masculine or feminine: "De"
| Je ne bois pas de lait |
I don't drink milk |
| Tu ne manges pas de viande |
You don't eat meat |
| Je n'achète pas de pain |
I don't buy bread |
| Tennis |
Tennis (m) |
Waterpolo |
Water-polo (m) |
| Football |
Football (m) |
Hockey |
Hockey (m) |
| Basketball |
Basket-ball (m) |
Ice Hockey |
Hockey sur glace |
| Sailing |
Voile (f) |
Skiing |
Ski (m) |
| Rowing |
Rame (f) |
Cycling |
Cyclisme (m) |
| Horse riding |
Hippisme (m) |
Motor racing |
Automobilisme (m) |
| Swimming |
Natation (f) |
Skating |
Patinage (m) |
| Athletics |
Athlétisme (m) |
Gymnastics |
Gymnastique (f) |
| Boxing |
Boxe (f) |
Judo |
Judo (m) |
