Aurélie descend de l'avion

Question

why is it Aurélie descend de l'avion. and not Aurélie descend du avion or d'avion?(it makes sense that it is de l'avion but idk what grammatical rule dictates that it should be that way)

Accepted Answer

Hi M
Du is a contraction de + le / l' partitive or definite article. 
De l'avion where de is a preposition meaning "from /off" in this context.
Bonne continuation
Jim

Answer

Since avion begins with a vowel, you can't use du, you have to write de l'avion.Du is the mandatory contraction of de + le, it is not a possible contraction of de + l'.You can't use d'avion in this context, because you would be leaving out the definite article (the plane), i.e. d' is short for de, not du (or de la).https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/contractions-of-articles-a-le-au-a-les-aux-de-le-du-de-les-des

Answer

Because avion starts with a vowel