Why is the article not plural!?

Question

In the statement "mon fils a de grandes oreilles" , why is it not "DES grandes oreilles"? Ears is plural, and "de" is the article, and "grand" is following a feminine plural suit.... I've noticed this with other items, mostly body parts, like toes, fingers, eyes. They all use a plural article "les" but when describing them, it turns to "de"

If I said "he had cats" it would be "il a des chats", right? What am I not getting!?

Accepted Answer

This is the lesson you are looking for :https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/use-de-d-instead-of-des-in-front-of-adjectives-preceding-nouns-partitive-article

Answer

Hi Madeline,Please can you quote which lesson or quiz you are wanting to query?

Answer

Thank you! I'm actually asking this after a duolingo lesson that didn't appear to have an explanation, but the lesson Maarten posted seems to explain it! If the adjective comes first, you won't use "des". If the adjective comes after the noun, then you can use "des". I'll just accept it as fact!