Sam fait de l'aïkido.

Question

I do not understand why "Sams does Aikido" is translated as "Sam fait de l'aïkido.". The lesson says that in front of masculine nouns that de le and les will contract to du and des. Why is this not "Sam fait du aïkido"?

Thank you.

Accepted Answer

Contraction does not occur with « de/à  l'....», regardless of gender - so before checking the gender of the noun , check whether it starts with a vowel or h muet - in these cases it will eg de l'o(i)gnon, de l'aikido , à l'hôtel etc. 
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/contractions-of-articles-a-le-au-a-les-aux-de-le-du-de-les-des

Answer

Aikido starts with a vowel. Hence de l'

Answer

Because du (de+le) ends in a vowel and aïkido starts with a vowel. So you'll need to say Sam fait de l'aïkido.