Partitive articles describe nouns which are not quantified or countable. They are used to mean ‘any’ and ‘some’ in English. du is used with masculine nouns, de la with feminine nouns and de l’ for nouns beginning in vowels or a mute “h”.

e.g. J’ai acheté du lait, du beurre, de la viande = I bought some milk, some butter, some meat.

Partitive articles are replaced by de in the following instances:

In a negative sentence (ne pas, ne point, ne plus, ne jamais)

e.g. Je ne bois pas de bière = I don’t drink beer

With plural nouns preceded by an adjective

e.g. nous garderons de beaux souvenirs = We will keep good memories

After beaucoup/trop

e.g. Cela a beaucoup d’importance = It has a lot of importance

In the following expressions related to filling space

bordé de – lined with

couvert de – covered with

entouré de – surrounded by

plein de – full of

rempli de – Filled with