Advertisement
New visitors: Create your membership
Returning members: Sign in

 

How to talk about quantities


Du fromage, des tomates et du vin
Un kilo de tomates, s'il vous plaît
Une bouteille de vin


  • When you want to talk about unspecified quantities you use du, de la, de l' and des.


  • These words are formed when de is combined with le, la, l' and les, according to whether the word is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.


  • However, when the quantity is specified, e.g. 'a bottle of', 'a kilo of' or 'a little bit if', the word for 'of' is always de.
Tick to see how this works
de + le vin
de + la crème
de + l'huile
de + les tomates

une bouteille de vin   
a bottle of wine  
un kilo de tomates    a kilo of tomatoes  

See also du, de la

Is it du, de la, de l', des or just de? Type in the correct words in the gaps.

Some cheese fromage.
Some chocolate chocolat.
A bottle of wine Une bouteille vin.
A kilo of grapes Un kilo raisins.
Some strawberries fraises.
Some olives olives.
Some cream crème.
Some water eau.
1. Guess the words 2. Build sentences 3. Speak and write
 

Explore the BBC

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.