In this French grammar lesson, you will learn how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that precede plural nouns.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- how des is used in French
- des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that precede plural nouns
- how des/de/d’ are used in sentences
- how you can quiz yourself on how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that precede plural nouns
- how to practice with flashcards on how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that precede plural nouns
Please refer to the French B1 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar, if you are curious about how this fits in the overall structure of French B1.
By the end of the lesson you will know all about how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that preceed plural nouns!
Table of Contents
How Des is used in French
In this lesson we will handle the word “des“.
However, please don’t forget that there are two ways to use “des”.
- Des means “some”.
In French you can use partitive articles so that “des” means “some”.
- Des means “of the”
In French you can use contractions so that “des” means “of the”.
Please read those lessons (again) if you will like you need a refresher on these topics.
It is important that you know the distinction for this lesson.
Des becomes de/d’ when in front of Adjectives that Preceed Plural Nouns
When an adjective is placed before a plural noun, the partitive article des (some) will become de/d’.
J’ai des peintures qui sont belles.
I have some paintings that are beautiful.
J’ai de belles peintures.
I have some beautiful paintings.
You can see that in the second example, des turns into de.
This is because the adjective is placed before the plural noun.
Louis a écrit des chansons qui sont bonnes.
Louis wrote some songs that are good.
Louis a écrit de bonnes chansons.
Louis wrote some good songs.
Elle a des frères qui sont beaux.
She has some brothers who are handsome.
Elle a de beaux frères.
She has some handsome brothers.
This rule only applies when des means “some” (partitive article).
This rule DOES NOT apply when des means “of the” (contraction).
Have a look at the following example.
Je prends des photos des bâtiments.
I am taking some pictures of the buildings.
In this example, the word des appears two times.
The first time, it means “some”.
The second time, it means “of the”.
However there’s no adjective so nothing happens.
Je prends des photos des grands bâtiments.
I am taking some pictures of the big buildings.
You can see that the second des doesn’t turn into de because it means “of the”.
Because it means “of the” the rule doesn’t apply here.
Example Sentences on Des
The final section of this lesson on how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that preceed plural nouns is about seeing the the terms in action.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding on how des becomes de/d’ when in front of adjectives that preceed plural nouns through examples.
Here you can find the sentences of the previous chapter, neatly stored in one place.
J’ai des peintures qui sont belles.
I have some paintings that are beautiful.
J’ai de belles peintures.
I have some beautiful paintings.
Louis a écrit des chansons qui sont bonnes.
Louis wrote some songs that are good.
Louis a écrit de bonnes chansons.
Louis wrote some good songs.
Elle a des frères qui sont beaux.
She has some brothers who are handsome.
Elle a de beaux frères.
She has some handsome brothers.
Je prends des photos des bâtiments.
I am taking some pictures of the buildings.
Je prends des photos des grands bâtiments.
I am taking some pictures of the big buildings.
Quiz Yourself on Des
At the end of every lesson you can do a small quiz.
You will see the sentences of the previous chapter.
You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.
Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.
You can redo the quiz as many times as you want!
How to Practice With Flashcards for This Lesson
Using flashcards is an absolute necessity when it comes to learning a language!
It is the best way to memorize what you learn, you can personalize your progression because it adapts to your actions, and all flashcards have audio to improve your hearing and pronunciation.
Please read our article on how to learn a new language for more information.
There are two ways to practice with Flashcards for this lesson.
- Anki
- The Flashcards in our Courses
Anki is a free software with which you can create and practice flashcards.
After you have downloaded Anki, you can get our French B1 Anki Deck.
This Anki Deck contains 2,028 flashcards with which you can practice absolutely everything for French B1.
All the flashcards have text, images, explanations, and audio.
You can also use our courses that have flashcards integrated alongside lessons with audio, quizzes and much more!
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