French language Q&A Forum

What is the difference in meaning between l'article partitif (du, des) and l'article contracte (du, des)?

On the ainsi que lesson there is the following section:

ATTENTION:

Ok, we know that: '' Partitive articles, du, de la, & de l' (some/any) are used with mass nouns. Definite articles (le, la, l', les) and indefinite articles (un/une/des) are used with countable nouns.

Then what partitive ''des'' is used for? What is the difference between those two ''des''? The indefinite ''des'' vs the partitive ''des''. Are not there any uncountable nouns that have any plural form or something like that?

Chanson douce = lullaby :-)

Hi,

I have just relearned about the verbs and also the subject pronouns what should I learn next as a beginner?

Thanks

Nicole

1. Why can't we use " avec beaucoup des glacons" but we have to use " avec beaucoup de glacons ", why " les " disappears in this case ?

The correct version of this dictation indicates that evenement has an accent aigu over the first "e" and an accent grave over the second.  The dictionary I refer to (Merriam-Webster's French-English and English-French) spells it with two accents aigus.  I checked it again in another bilingual dictionary (by J.O.Kettridge, Officier d'Academie F.S.A.A., ETC) and it also showed the word with both accents being aigu.  Would you clarify this for me (I would hate to spend the rest of what remains of my life spelling evenement  improperly.  Thank you.  (I should also point out that in the final text you provided, both of the accents are aigu.

J'ai trois soeurs. Does this change to Je n'ai pas trois soeurs or je n'ai pas de soeurs. If the latter, then do all numbers change to de??