ArndisA2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Du or de

Why isn't it "du lait" instead of "de lait"?

This question relates to:French lesson "Ne ... pas assez (de) = Not enough (of)"

Asked 1 year ago

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CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Arndís,

If you mean in the sentence :

Je n'ai pas assez de lait.

it is because of the 'pas' . (always pas ...de )

Hope this helps!

Like01 year ago

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Whenever you relate to a specific quantity, you don't use the article and du/de la/des turns into de. And not having something, i.e., having zero of it, is also a specific quantity. Hence in negations you just use de.

J'ai du lait. -- I have milk. (no specific quantity, hence du)
J'ai un peu de lait. -- I have a bit of milk. (un peu is a specification of quantity, hence de).
Je n'ai pas de lait. -- I don't have milk. (no milk is also considered a quantity, hence de).