De vs Du

Question

My understanding was that "Du" is a contraction of "de le". Why do we use "du" but not the equivalent "de la"?Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Salut Lefty,
Definite articles le, la, l' are used with singular nouns and les with plural nouns; compound with à and de to form au, aux and du, des in the sense "of the".
Partitive articles "some" or "any" have the forms du, de la, and de l.
So your understanding is correct but depends upon the category of noun under discussion.
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/articles/
Have a look at the link above, which will help you to understand and is supplementary to the excellent Kwiziq lesson that you have referenced.
Bonne continuation.
Jim

Answer

Bonjour Lefty,
Jim is correct! Keep an eye out for the category of the noun (for example, countries / food).
The link you mentioned does focus on countries/region/states/counties ; where you will use "de" with feminine countries.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !