In French, the definite article "the" and the indefinite article "a" have a plural form.
Learn about les and des in French
Look at these examples:
The plural forms of le, la and l' is les.
The plural forms of un and une is des.
Note that when you say ''I have strawberries." in English, you are actually saying "I have some strawberries.", but in English, you can omit 'some'.
NOT in French!
In French you must always use "des".
E.g. J'ai des fraises.
E.g. J'ai des fraises.
See also Du/de la/de l'/des = Some/any (French Partitive Articles)
Grammar jargon: Les is the plural definite article; Des is the plural indefinite article. These articles are used with countable nouns (things you can count, like dogs, as opposed to mass nouns for things like milk which use partitive articles instead.)
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
