Du, de la, des
A free French partitive articles quiz: du, de la, de l’, or des, scored on the page as you go. A few minutes to find out whether pas de has really sunk in.
Four ways to say some
Fourteen food and daily-life sentences with one article missing: du, de la, de l’, des, or bare de. The negation rule and the beaucoup de family are in there, because that is where it actually goes wrong.
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How this French partitive articles quiz works
The quiz tests the partitive system: je mange du pain, elle boit de la bière, il y a de l’eau, on achète des pommes. The trap that catches almost everyone is negation: du and de la collapse to plain de after pas. Je ne mange pas de pain, never pas du pain. The other classic error is after quantities: beaucoup de café, un kilo de tomates, no article at all.
Retake it until the pas de reflex is automatic; the questions rotate through food, drink, and daily-life sentences. The answer key explains every choice, including why the rule applies or does not. For the full grammar, the Learning Center covers articles and quantities in depth, and The French Briefing is where you will see partitives used naturally in real news French, which is how they stop being a rule and become a habit.
Why is it de after pas?
In a negative sentence, the partitive and indefinite articles (du, de la, des, un, une) reduce to de: je n’ai pas de voiture. The exception is être: ce n’est pas du vin stays du, because you are identifying, not quantifying.
What is the difference between des and les?
Des means some, an unspecified quantity: j’ai acheté des livres. Les means the, specific or general: j’aime les livres. English drops the article in both cases, which is why anglophones mix them up constantly.
What level is this quiz?
A2. You should already know le, la, les and basic food vocabulary. The quiz focuses on choosing between partitives, the pas de rule, and expressions of quantity like beaucoup de and trop de.
