Using 'de' before Numbers in French

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Using 'de' before Numbers in French

Can you please explain when 'de' is used before a number in French? 

- Le nombre de décès a été de 54600. (Does it mean 'was at' or ' was about'?)

- La population a augmenté l'année dernière de 3,46,000 personnes. (Does it mean 'increased to' or 'increased by' here?)

- Le prix est de 500 dollars.

And, is there a general rule about using "de" before numbers? Please explain? 

Asked 1 year ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Ashpreet,

As Maarten says correctly 'de' is a preposition here, it is called 'vide' ( empty) as it makes no grammatical sense but it is always used before -

expressions de quantité ou de contenu 

 

Bonne Continuation !

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Aashpreet - where are these examples from ? Can you provide the context or lesson they are from ? 

The ‘de’ in your examples is a preposition, not a partitive article, and the lesson you linked is not relevant.  You can review the meanings of ‘de’ at the following link :

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/de

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hey Maarten , Thanks for pointing that it's a preposition here. Got confused because I always saw 'de' before numbers in French (and it meant different things in different examples like the few I have shared in my Question), and like - 

"La hauteur de la Tour Eiffel est de 324 mètres." 

I was actually trying to find a lesson which could explain this concept but couldn't find one...please share the kwiziq lesson link, if you find one.

Though Cécile has given a good explanation for this. Thank you Cécile.

Using 'de' before Numbers in French

Can you please explain when 'de' is used before a number in French? 

- Le nombre de décès a été de 54600. (Does it mean 'was at' or ' was about'?)

- La population a augmenté l'année dernière de 3,46,000 personnes. (Does it mean 'increased to' or 'increased by' here?)

- Le prix est de 500 dollars.

And, is there a general rule about using "de" before numbers? Please explain? 

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