French 1 Quiz: Partitive Articles Du De La Des
14 questions · exam conditions
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Partitive Articles Du De La DesQuestion 1 of 14

Complete: En hiver, ils font __ ski.

de la
des
du
de l'
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French 1 Quiz

French 1 Quiz: Partitive Articles Du De La Des

Practice Partitive Articles Du De La Des in French 1 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Partitive Articles Du De La Des, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for French 1.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Complete: En hiver, ils font __ ski.

  1. de la
  2. des
  3. du (correct answer)
  4. de l'
Explanation: The expression is faire du ski, where the partitive article du is used with the masculine noun ski. You do not use de la because ski is masculine, not feminine; des is plural and does not fit this fixed expression; de l' is used before a vowel, not before the consonant s. So the correct completion is du.

Question 2

Complete: Elle ajoute __ farine au gâteau.

  1. de la (correct answer)
  2. du
  3. des
  4. de l'
Explanation: Farine is a feminine singular noun beginning with a consonant, so the partitive article is de la. The tempting wrong answer is du, which is masculine; use de l' only before a vowel or silent h.

Question 3

Complete: Au dîner, ils mangent __ épinards.

  1. de l'
  2. des (correct answer)
  3. du
  4. de la
Explanation: Épinards is plural, so the partitive article must be plural: des. You would say ils mangent des épinards meaning they eat some spinach. The tempting choice is du, but du is used before masculine singular nouns, not plural ones.

Question 4

Complete: Tu veux __ eau ?

  1. de la
  2. du
  3. des
  4. de l' (correct answer)
Explanation: Eau is a feminine noun, but it begins with a vowel sound, so the feminine partitive de la must become de l' before it. You would say de l'eau, not de la eau. Du is masculine and des is plural, so neither fits here.

Question 5

Au restaurant, le serveur demande ce que les clients veulent commander.

Le client répond : « Je voudrais   soupe du jour et   vin rouge, s'il vous plaît. » Quelle option est correcte ?

  1. du / du
  2. de la / du (correct answer)
  3. des / de la
  4. de la / de la
Explanation: When choosing articles before food and drink in French, you need to identify the gender of each noun and apply the correct partitive article (used to express "some" of an uncountable thing). The partitive articles are du (masculine), de la (feminine), and de l' (before a vowel sound. Here, the two nouns are soupe and vin. The word soupe is feminine, so it takes de la. The word vin is masculine, so it takes du. That makes option B) de la / du the correct choice — "Je voudrais de la soupe du jour et du vin rouge." Looking at the wrong answers: A) du / du incorrectly treats soupe as masculine — it applies du to a feminine noun, which is a gender error. C) des / de la uses des, the plural partitive, for soupe, but soupe here is singular and uncountable, so des doesn't apply; additionally, de la is incorrectly assigned to vin, which is masculine. D) de la / de la gets soupe right but then incorrectly assigns de la to vin, ignoring that vin is masculine. A helpful study tip: build a mental checklist whenever you see a blank before a food or drink noun — ask yourself "Is this noun masculine or feminine? Is it singular or plural?" Memorizing the gender of common food and drink vocabulary (le vin, la soupe, le café, la bière) will make these questions much faster and more reliable.

Question 6

Quelle phrase utilise le partitif de façon incorrecte par rapport au contexte de quantité exprimée ?

  1. Elle boit beaucoup de café le matin pour se réveiller.
  2. Il mange un peu de fromage avec du pain au déjeuner.
  3. Nous achetons assez du lait pour toute la semaine. (correct answer)
  4. Vous avez trop de sel dans cette recette selon le chef.
Explanation: When working with expressions of quantity in French, you need to pay close attention to what follows quantifiers like beaucoup, un peu, assez, and trop. These words are called adverbes de quantité, and they follow a strict rule: they are always followed by de alone — never by du, de la, or des. Option C is incorrect because "assez du lait" combines the quantifier assez with the contracted partitive article du (which is de + le). This is a grammatical error. The correct form must be "assez de lait" — no article, just the bare preposition de followed directly by the noun. Looking at the other choices, A uses "beaucoup de café," which correctly applies the rule — no article after the quantifier. Option B uses "un peu de fromage," again perfectly correct for the same reason. Option D uses "trop de sel," which is also properly formed. All three of these demonstrate the rule working as it should, which is why they are the distractors — they look similar to C but are actually correct. The trap in C is subtle: du lait is a perfectly valid partitive construction on its own (meaning "some milk"), so students sometimes assume it can follow a quantifier too. But the moment a quantity word appears, the article must disappear. Study tip: Memorize this pattern — quantifier + de + noun (no article) — by thinking of it as a formula: beaucoup/peu/trop/assez/assez de + noun, always without du/de la/des.

Question 7

Pauline décrit ce qu'elle mange habituellement au petit-déjeuner.

Pauline dit : « Je mange   confiture sur   pain grillé et je bois   jus d'orange. » Quelle combinaison complète correctement la phrase ?

  1. de la / des / du
  2. du / du / de la
  3. des / de la / du
  4. de la / du / du (correct answer)
Explanation: When choosing articles before food items in French, you need to identify whether each noun is masculine, feminine, or plural — because the partitive article (expressing "some" of an uncountable thing) changes accordingly: du for masculine singular, de la for feminine singular, and des for plural. Let's walk through each blank. Confiture (jam) is feminine singular, so it takes de la. Pain grillé (toast) is masculine singular, so it takes du. Jus d'orange (orange juice) is masculine singular, so it also takes du. That gives you de la / du / du — answer D, the correct choice. Looking at the wrong answers: A) de la / des / du fails on the second blank — pain grillé is singular and masculine, not plural, so des is incorrect there. B) du / du / de la misidentifies confiture as masculine (using du instead of de la) and jus d'orange as feminine (using de la instead of du) — both are wrong. C) des / de la / du also gets confiture wrong by using the plural des for what is clearly a singular, uncountable noun, and ironically gets the second blank right but for the wrong reason. A helpful study tip: build a mental checklist for any food noun — ask yourself is it masculine or feminine? singular or plural? before choosing your partitive article. Keeping a running list of common food noun genders (le pain, le jus, la confiture, la soupe) will make these questions much faster and more reliable on the exam.

Question 8

Marie prépare le dîner. Elle va au marché et achète plusieurs choses.

Marie dit : « J'achète   pain,   eau minérale et   légumes frais. » Quelle combinaison complète correctement la phrase ?

  1. du / de l' / des (correct answer)
  2. de la / du / des
  3. du / de la / de
  4. des / de l' / du
Explanation: When French speakers say "some" before a noun, they use what's called a partitive article — and the form changes depending on the gender and first letter of the noun that follows. The rule is straightforward: use du before masculine nouns (du pain, du vin), de la before feminine nouns (de la soupe), and de l' before any noun starting with a vowel or silent h, regardless of gender (de l'eau, de l'argent). For plural nouns, you always use des (des légumes, des amis). Now apply this to Marie's sentence. Pain (bread) is masculine → du pain. Eau minérale (mineral water) is feminine, but it starts with a vowel → de l'eau. Légumes (vegetables) is plural → des légumes. That gives you du / de l' / des, which is choice A — the correct answer. Choice B (de la / du / des) incorrectly treats eau as if it were a regular feminine noun, ignoring the vowel-elision rule that turns de la into de l' before a vowel. Choice C (du / de la / de) makes the same vowel mistake and then replaces des with a bare de, which is only used after negation (e.g., je n'achète pas de légumes). Choice D (des / de l' / du) scrambles the genders entirely, treating the masculine singular pain as plural and the plural légumes as masculine singular. A handy tip: always ask yourself three questions — Is the noun singular or plural? If singular, is it masculine or feminine? And does it start with a vowel? These three checks will get you the right partitive article every time.

Question 9

Sophie mange   fromage mais elle ne mange pas   viande. Quelle option complète correctement la phrase ?

  1. du / de la
  2. du / de (correct answer)
  3. de la / de
  4. des / de la
Explanation: When you see blanks before food items in French, you're being tested on partitive articles — the small words that express "some" of an uncountable thing — and how they change in negative sentences. In a positive statement, French uses partitive articles: du (masculine), de la (feminine), or des (plural). Fromage is masculine, so "Sophie mange   fromage" correctly takes du. So far, so good. Here's the critical rule: after a negation (ne...pas), all partitive and indefinite articles collapse into simply de (or d' before a vowel), regardless of gender or number. So "elle ne mange pas   viande" requires de, not de la, even though viande is feminine. This is exactly what option B provides — du / de — making it the correct answer. Now let's see why the others fail. Option A (du / de la) uses de la in the negative clause, which ignores the negation rule entirely — a very common mistake. Option C (de la / de) puts de la before fromage, but since fromage is masculine, you need du, not de la. Option D (des / de la) uses the plural partitive des before a singular noun (fromage), which is grammatically wrong, and also repeats the negation error with de la. A reliable tip: whenever you spot ne...pas in a sentence, immediately flag the article that follows as needing to become plain de. Train yourself to scan for negation first — it's one of the most tested traps in French grammar.

Question 10

Un étudiant écrit : « Pour rester en bonne santé, il faut manger   fruits et   viande, mais pas trop   sucre. » Quelle combinaison est correcte ?

  1. du / de la / de
  2. des / de la / du
  3. des / de la / de (correct answer)
  4. des / du / de la
Explanation: When using articles with food items in French, you need to ask yourself two things: (1) Is the noun countable or uncountable? (2) Is the sentence affirmative or negative? This question tests both concepts at once. For countable nouns in the plural (things you can count individually), French uses des — fruits are countable objects, so des fruits is correct. For uncountable mass nouns in affirmative sentences, French uses the partitive article de la (feminine) or du (masculine) — viande is feminine and uncountable, so de la viande is right. Now for the tricky part: after expressions of negation or restriction like pas trop de, the article collapses to plain de regardless of gender or number. So pas trop de sucre is correct. This logic leads you to C) des / de la / de. Choice A fails immediately because du fruits is wrong — fruits is plural and countable, requiring des, not the masculine partitive du. Choice B almost works, but du sucre instead of de sucre ignores the rule that pas trop triggers the reduction to bare de. Choice D uses du for viande, which is incorrect because viande is feminine — it requires de la, not du. A useful tip: anytime you spot a quantity or negation expression (like pas de, trop de, beaucoup de, pas trop de), the article that follows always simplifies to just de. Memorize this pattern and you'll avoid the trap in choice B every time.

Question 11

Un professeur corrige cette phrase d'un élève : « Je veux de la renseignements sur ce sujet. » Quelle correction est la meilleure ?

  1. Remplacer 'de la' par 'du' car 'renseignements' est masculin.
  2. Remplacer 'de la' par 'des' car 'renseignements' est un nom masculin pluriel. (correct answer)
  3. Remplacer 'de la' par 'de l'' car 'renseignements' commence par une voyelle.
  4. Laisser 'de la' car le partitif féminin convient aux noms abstraits.
Explanation: When working with French partitive articles, you need to think about two things simultaneously: the gender and the number of the noun being modified. The partitive article must agree with the noun it accompanies. The noun renseignements is masculine AND plural. In French, the correct partitive/indefinite article for a masculine or feminine plural noun is always des. So "Je veux des renseignements sur ce sujet" is the grammatically correct sentence — making B the right answer. Here's why the other options miss the mark: A is partially right in identifying that renseignements is masculine, but it suggests replacing de la with du. The article du (a contraction of de + le) is used for masculine singular nouns, like du pain or du lait. It completely ignores the fact that renseignements is plural. C suggests de l', which is used before singular nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h — for example, de l'eau or de l'argent. While renseignements does begin with a vowel, it's plural, so de l' doesn't apply. D is a trap based on a false rule — there is no special partitive form reserved for abstract nouns in French. Gender and number always govern article choice. A handy tip: before choosing a partitive article, always ask yourself two questions — is the noun masculine or feminine, and is it singular or plural? Plural always takes des, regardless of gender or whether the word starts with a vowel.

Question 12

Laquelle des phrases suivantes utilise correctement l'article partitif ?

  1. Il boit de la café le matin parce qu'il est fatigué.
  2. Elle mange des riz avec du poulet pour le déjeuner.
  3. Nous avons du lait et de la farine pour faire un gâteau. (correct answer)
  4. Ils achètent du pommes et de la jus au supermarché.
Explanation: When working with partitive articles in French, your job is to match the article to the gender of the noun it accompanies. Partitive articles express an indefinite quantity of something uncountable: du (masculine), de la (feminine), and des (plural countable nouns). Option C is correct because every article-noun pairing is accurate: du lait — lait is masculine, so du is right; de la farine — farine is feminine, so de la is right. The sentence is grammatically clean and the context (making a cake) makes natural sense. Option A contains a gender error: café is masculine, so it requires du café, not de la café. Using de la with a masculine noun is one of the most common beginner mistakes, so watch out for it. Option B misuses des before riz. Rice (riz) is an uncountable noun in French, so it needs the partitive du riz, not des riz. Reserve des for plural countable nouns (like des pommes — apples you can count). Option D has the opposite problem from B: pommes are countable and plural, so des pommes is correct — but the sentence incorrectly uses du pommes. Additionally, jus is masculine, so de la jus should be du jus. Two errors in one sentence! A useful habit: before choosing a partitive article, always ask yourself two questions — Is this noun countable or uncountable? and Is it masculine or feminine? Those two checks will catch almost every partitive error on this exam.

Question 13

Laquelle des phrases suivantes contient une erreur dans l'utilisation de l'article partitif ?

  1. Paul boit de l'eau gazeuse après le sport.
  2. Nous mangeons de la salade verte au dîner.
  3. Ils ont de la patience avec les enfants difficiles.
  4. Elle achète du fleurs pour décorer la maison. (correct answer)
Explanation: When working with partitive articles in French, your job is to match the article's gender to the noun it introduces. Partitive articles express an indefinite quantity of something uncountable — think "some" in English. The three forms are du (masculine), de la (feminine), and de l' (before a vowel sound). The error in option D is a gender mismatch: fleurs is a feminine plural noun, so it requires de la in singular contexts — but more importantly, "du" is strictly masculine singular. You cannot pair du with fleurs, a feminine noun. The correct phrasing would be "Elle achète des fleurs" (using des, the plural partitive/indefinite article) or restructured entirely. The combination du fleurs is doubly wrong because du is masculine and fleurs is plural feminine. Looking at the other options, A is correct — eau is feminine, and de l' is properly used before the vowel. B is correct — salade is feminine, so de la salade is accurate. C is correct — patience is feminine, and de la patience properly expresses an uncountable quality. A useful strategy: whenever you see a partitive article, immediately identify the gender and number of the noun that follows. Create a quick mental checklist — du = masculine singular, de la = feminine singular, de l' = before a vowel, des = plural. A mismatch between any of these and the noun is your red flag. On French grammar questions, noun gender agreement is one of the most commonly tested traps, so practicing noun genders consistently will pay off.

Question 14

Thomas dit à son colocataire : « Il n'y a plus   beurre et il n'y a plus   œufs dans le réfrigérateur. » Quelle option est correcte ?

  1. de / de (correct answer)
  2. du / des
  3. de la / des
  4. du / de
Explanation: When a sentence uses negation in French (like ne...plus, ne...pas, ne...jamais), the partitive and indefinite articles follow a special rule: they all collapse into the single word de (or d' before a vowel), regardless of the noun's gender or number. In Thomas's sentence, both nouns appear after il n'y a plus — a negative expression. This means du beurre (normally masculine partitive) becomes de beurre, and des œufs (normally plural indefinite) becomes de œufs → d'œufs. Since both slots require de, option A (de / de) is correct. Here's why the other choices fail: B (du / des) uses the standard, non-negated partitive and indefinite articles — exactly what you'd say in a positive sentence like il y a du beurre et des œufs. Choosing B shows a misapplication of the rule by ignoring the negation entirely. C (de la / des) makes two errors: beurre is masculine, so de la would be wrong even outside negation, and des again ignores the negative context. D (du / de) gets the second blank right but forgets that the first blank is also inside a negative expression — du cannot survive negation. A useful memory trick: think of negation as a reset button — it wipes out du, de la, de l', and des, replacing them all with plain de. Whenever you spot ne...pas, ne...plus, or any other negative structure, immediately switch every article to de.