De vs Du

H. 1.B1Kwiziq community member

I just had a question about the usage of de vs du in "l'école du chocolat".

Why can't we say "l'école de chocolat" ? And why are we using "du"?

Asked 2 years ago

CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Hyeonji,

chocolate = le chocolat

the school of chocolate = l'école du chocolat

because:

de + le = du

If you said:

l'école de chocolat

it would mean that the school was made of chocolate.

Hope this helps!

Like12 years ago

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Hyeonji,

I see this in the sense of a specific school (of chocolat) given that no other subject is taught in this establishment.

Therefore it needs to be described using a definite article de le -> du.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-quantity

Hope this helps to explain for you.

Jim

Like22 years ago

H. 1. asked:

I just had a question about the usage of de vs du in "l'école du chocolat".

Why can't we say "l'école de chocolat" ? And why are we using "du"?

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