Du, de la, de l', des all become de or d' in negative sentences (partitive articles)

2020-05-22

You know how to use partitive articles (du, de la, de l', des) in affirmative sentences by now (see Using du, de la, de l', des to express some or any (partitive articles)).

Now look at these negative sentences:

Je mange des pommes. - Je ne mange pas de pommes.I eat apples. - I don't eat any apples.

Je bois du lait. - Je ne bois pas de lait.I drink milk. - I don't drink any milk.

J'ai des animaux. - Je n'ai pas d'animaux.I've got (some) animals. -Me, I don't have any animals.

Nous avons bu de la bière. - Nous n'avons pas bu de bière.We drank beer. - We didn't drink any beer.

Vous mangez de la viande ? - Non, nous ne mangeons jamais de viande.Do you eat meat? - No, we never eat meat.

Tu fais encore de la natation ? - Non, je ne fais plus de natation.Do you still go swimming? - No, I don't go swimming anymore.

Partitive articles du, de la, de l' and des all become de or d' (in front of a vowel or mute h) in negative sentences using ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...plus etc (See also N'avoir plus de = To have none left (negation))

ATTENTION:

This rule does NOT apply to sentences using the verb être and other Verbes d'état, with which the partitive article doesn't change.

C'est du sel de Guérande ? -Non, ce n'est pas du sel de Guérande.Is that Guerande salt? -No, it's not Guerande salt.

C'est de l'huile d'olive ? -Non, ce n'est pas de l'huile d'olive.Is this olive oil? -No, this is not olive oil.

Le plomb devient de l'or. - Non, le plomb ne devient pas de l'or !Lead becomes gold. - No, lead doesn't become gold!

Also see Un, une become de or d' in negative sentences (indefinite articles)

Note that definite articles (le, la, l', les) don't change in negative sentences:
J'aime le chocolat. -> Je n'aime pas le chocolat.

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Examples and resources

Je bois du lait. - Je ne bois pas de lait.I drink milk. - I don't drink any milk.

En ce moment, je ne fais pas de lèche-vitrine, je fais du lèche-écran !At the moment, I don't go window-shopping, I go browser-shopping!
(literally: At the moment, I don't do window-licking, I do screen-licking!)