de vs. de la

Question

Nous mangeons du poulet.Nous prenons un peu de poulet.The first sentence is "de + le poulet" but the second is "de poulet". Is this because of the "un peu" modifier? What's the rule?

Accepted Answer

Hi Nick,
1.  Nous mangeons du poulet 
'du' is a partitive article, meaning 'some'
Using du, de la, de l', des to express some or any (partitive articles)
It could be -

nous mangeons de la viande = we are eating (some) meat
nous mangeons des légumes = we are eating (some) vegetables
nous mangeons de la confiture = we are eating (some) jam

2. Nous mangeons un peu de poulet 
uses 'un peu de' which means a bit of / a small quantity of something 
Quelque(s) vs (un) peu de = A couple/a few vs a bit of/few (indefinite adjectives)

je mange un peu de viande = I am eating a bit of meat 
je mange un peu de confiture = I am eating a bit of jam
je mange un peu de légumes = I am eating a few vegetables

Hope this helps!

Answer

When you have a preposition plus the article such as de + le it then becomes du. Here is a link below

Definite articles contract with à and de in French (French Contracted Articles)