Bonjour Renate, I learned this phrasing as «ne. . . pas de. . .», for example Do you have any apples --> Avez-vous des pommes. Non, je n'ai pas de pommes. that is to say that in negation «de» follows ne. . .pas regardless if it is plural or not. However, i recently saw a lesson that indicated «de» is not used in negation following être : (the examples and explanation below are from another online resource) I don’t want any rice: je ne veux pas de riz I don’t want any love: je ne veux pas d’amour I don’t want any mustard: je ne veux pas de moutarde I don’t want any water: je ne veux pas d’eau I don’t need any money: je n’ai pas besoin d’argent I don’t want anymore apples: je ne veux plus de pommes. Exception: with the verb ‘to be’ It is gold: c’est de l’or It is not gold: ce n’est pas de l’or (we keep the definite article) Here is a link to one of the negation lessons: N'avoir plus de = To have none left (French Negations) Bonne chance! Ron

Thanks for that. I haven't looked at the lesson yet but what you said above, which is what I already understood, does not explain the example I gave. Why not de in this case. Since then I have seen a further example that did not use de which also happened to be a sport reference. Coincidence or what?