charit.

[wicked parrot]

Please be patient

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[violet elbow]

The difference between the partitive and the definite is specificity: « les fruits » would mean either every single fruit there is or a specifc group of fruits whereas « des fruits » is just an unknown but plural amount of fruits.

The partitive is formed by the preposition « de » plus the definite articles « le, la, les » which gives us « du, de la, des ». When to use the plural and when not to? When the noun is countable as in you can enumerate, it's plural but if not, it's singular

« chaise (chair) » is a countable noun because you can enumerate: one chair, two chairs, three chairs, etc
« nourriture (food) » is not a countable noun because you can't enumerate. What is two foods? One food? Three foods? It doesn't make sense because it doesn't comprise an object.

« confiture » is not countable, nor is « argent », because jam and money don't come in enumerable things. What is a jam? Is it like 20ml, 50ml, 100ml? What is money? Is it bills of 5 Euros, 10 Euros, 20 Euros?

Therefore, they use the singular partitives

[daring kiln]

i got this one correctly now

i understood, thanks

so, "le" comes before everything then, is just that de comes based on if its countable or not?

[violet elbow]

« le » doesn't come before everything

« de » yes

the choice of article « le/la/les » depends on gender and countability

[daring kiln]

yes, when i meant "le" I meant, the definite article

whether le la or les

[violet elbow]

masculine, uncountable => du poisson
feminine, uncountable => de la nourriture
masculine, countable => des fauteuils
feminine, countable => des chaises

[daring kiln]

Yes im aware of this

[violet elbow]

Oh I got you

« le/la/les » are used when the thing you're talking about is specific

[daring kiln]

in this case, "de la nourriture", food isn't specific. however "la" is still there, and it isn't just "de nourriture" so the definite article is always there, its just the "de" (du des de la included) depends on the specificity and countability and gender

[violet elbow]

For example, if I go up to you and say, « Est-ce que tu peux me donner l'argent ? (Can you give me the money?) », you'll be confused because you don't know what 'money' here refers to. Is it your wages, your bank account, the bet you won last night?

[daring kiln]

Yes

[violet elbow]

Whereas if I said, « Est-ce que tu peux me donner de l'argent ? (Can you give me [some] money?) » you'd know that I'm not talking about a specific set of money, just money

[violet elbow]

When you're talking about its composition it's fine to separate them but they should always be understood as a whole

not « de + la nouriture » but « de la + nourriture »

[daring kiln]

ah got it

[violet elbow]

Because specificity gives you « le/la/les » yes but a nonspecific amount gives you « du/de la/des »

[daring kiln]

so Je veux manger les fruits would mean, I want to eat the fruits, fruits that I could've bought, or that are in my kitchen
but Je veux manger des fruits would mean any fruit

[violet elbow]

exactly

[daring kiln]

oooo

[violet elbow]

for example

« Je veux manger les fruits [que j'ai achetés] »

'I want to buy the fruits [that I bought]'

[daring kiln]

so in this case, when would i use du

or de la

[violet elbow]

If the noun is uncountable

[daring kiln]

oh wait its des cuz its plural

[violet elbow]

fruit is countable

[daring kiln]

so

de l'argent

well again argent depends on the context

if its countable or not

okay got it

[violet elbow]

Il faut porter l'argent => You know what kind of money you should bring
Il faut porter d'argent => Doesn't make sense
Il faut porter de l'argent => You gotta bring money whatever form or origins it is

Is English your native language?

[daring kiln]

kinda

i know english the best out of all languages

and i think in english so yes pretty much

[violet elbow]

Well as long as you're fluent, you can think of « du/de la/des » as 'some'

Je veux des fruits
I want some fruits

Je veux de la nourriture
I want some food

Je veux du poisson
I want some fish

Notice that in English, the noun stays singular for uncountable ones and plural for countable ones

[daring kiln]

yup got it

[violet elbow]

There is one pickle though

[daring kiln]

whats the 🥒

[violet elbow]

In a negative sentence, the article part disappears

[daring kiln]

Je ne veux pas de fruits

[violet elbow]

yup

[daring kiln]

Yes i remember that i learnt that in college

[violet elbow]

Je veux pas de fruits, de nourriture, de poisson

alright, just keeping you informed

[daring kiln]

thank you :)

[violet elbow]

do note that the noun stays plural

[daring kiln]

then the "de" becomes d' incase of vowel right

[violet elbow]

no problem, I hope to have helped you

[violet elbow]

mmhm

[daring kiln]

alright thanks

[daring kiln]

yes you did :)

[violet elbow]

Oh and before adjectives

Je veux des chaises géniales
Je veux de bonnes chaises

[daring kiln]

o so the thing becomes singluar

whats geniales

[violet elbow]

No no, the noun stays singular/plural depending on countability

[daring kiln]

No i mean the article

yes the noun stays plural

[violet elbow]

The article just… disappears

[violet elbow]

fantastic, great

Je veux de la nourriture incroyable
Je veux de bonne nourriture

[daring kiln]

oo yus i got it

Also some adjectives go in front of the word, while some go at the back, how to remember them?

je veux des voitures de sport et luxe
je veux de belles voitures
these are correct right?

[violet elbow]

Yeah

[violet elbow]

Look up BRAGS adjectives: Beauty, Rank, Age, Goodness, Size