Gap-fill
De, du or des? Follow the small words in a French café order
Compare the vowels in de, du and des, then fill eight gaps in a café scene. Use quantity, negation and liaison clues to follow connected speech.
- A2
- 8 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
In a careful pronunciation, de is /də/, du is /dy/ and des is /de/. In connected speech, the vowel of de can disappear, while des can link with /z/ before a vowel. Use the rest of the phrase as a second clue: pas de sucre, du beurre, des croissants.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
| Phrase | Short form | What the phrase tells you |
|---|---|---|
| du lait | /dy/ | An amount of milk. Round your lips for /y/. |
| des croissants | /de/ | Several countable croissants. |
| pas de sucre | /də/, with possible vowel loss | An ordinary statement that there is no sugar. |
| un peu de confiture | de after a quantity | A little jam; the quantity supplies the pattern. |
| le prix du café | du = de + le | The price of the coffee. |
For /y/ in du, hold the tongue position of French i while rounding your lips. Keep this vowel distinct from /u/, as in doux. The vowel in des can sound more open with some speakers. A familiar phrase helps you recognise the word even when its vowel differs from the model you first learnt.
Breakfast words
Find:
How do de, du and des sound before a vowel?
Je voudrais un verre d’eau.
I’d like a glass of water.
De becomes d’ before eau: the spelling shows elision.
Elle apporte des assiettes.
She brings some plates.
Des assiettes has liaison /z/: /dez asjɛt/.
Elision removes a vowel from de; liaison supplies the linking consonant after des. In both cases, the phrase flows into the next word. In a café order, follow the object too: a quantity expression, a plural item and an absence give you different grammatical clues.
Breakfast for two: eight gaps
Complete with de, du, des or elided d’. Follow the meaning and the construction. Then read each short noun phrase as a group, keeping the little word close to the noun that follows it.
Un petit-déjeuner au café
Ce matin, je retrouve Lina au café. Je commande une tartine avec (some (masculine singular)) beurre. Lina préfère (some (plural)) croissants. Elle ne prend pas (any, after pas) sucre dans son café.
Nous demandons aussi un verre (de before a vowel)eau et un peu (after un peu) confiture. La serveuse apporte (some (plural)) assiettes. Le prix (de + le) petit-déjeuner est affiché près du comptoir. Avant de partir, nous achetons (some (plural)) croissants pour nos amis.
Read it in English
This morning, I meet Lina at the café. I order a slice of bread with butter. Lina prefers croissants. She does not have sugar in her coffee.
We also ask for a glass of water and a little jam. The waitress brings plates. The price of breakfast is displayed near the counter. Before leaving, we buy croissants for our friends.