des petits toasts

Question

Why is it not 'de petits toasts' ?

Answer

Tom, in both places I see ‘des’ it means “some small (toasts)”, and  fits. If it still doesn’t seem right to you, can you expand on why/where you think ‘de’ might fit?

Answer

I thought before an adjective 'des' became 'de'

Answer

Ah, of course! That didn’t register as I have heard “des petits toasts” used in France.

I think in this case “petits toasts’ may have been treated as a “compound noun”, Whether that is grammatically correct or not, it is in usage (at least as determined by asking my resident expert what she would say spontaneously) !

See links

https://www.tolearnfrench.com/exercises/exercise-french-2/exercise-french-4045.php

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/fr-de-des-adjectif-nom-au-pluriel.136043/

Answer

On the word reference link, a fair way down is this :It is indeed correct. Here is what Le Bon Usage says:Au pluriel, des est remplacé par de (de bons fruits) ordinairement dans la langue écrite et aussi dans la langue parlée de type soigné. Mais des (qui n'est pas récent : cf. Hist.) prévaut dans la langue parlée et se répand dans la langue écrite.

Answer

Thank you Maarten, that's brilliant. I sometimes forget about these points of difference between written and spoken French. Very useful to be keep being reminded !