French keyword: 'de'

The word de has been identified as the most frequently occurring word of French ([MITKOV2003:701]). It has multiple uses and translations.

Before a word beginning with a vowel sound, de is generally written d' and pronounced [d].

In such cases, it is generally analysed as being 'chained' on to the initial position of the following syllable. Before a consonant, the schwa is often 'deleted' in the spoken language (though lip rounding may be retained as a remnant of the schwa: see [BARNESKAVITSKAYA2002]), and it is generally pronounced [d] before a voiced consonant and [t] before a voiceless consonant (pas de bas [pad ba]; pas de chaise [pat ʃɛz]). Before [k]) (as in pas de café), it may become a type of dental click. In the presence of an h aspiré, the schwa is maintained (pas de haut [pa də o]).

It combines with the definite articles le and les to form du and des respectively. In careful usage, de is used instead of des immediately before a plural adjective: pendant de longs voyages; que tu passes de bonnes vacances. (In poetic uasge, de can be used instead of du before a singular adjective.)

It does not combine with the clitics le or les attached to the beginning of an infinitive: arrête de le toucher!.

Depending on the context, French de can be used as the equivalent of various English prepositions, including of, from, in, by.

To denote the provenance or origin of something

To show the origin of something or somebody, particularly when there is movement stated or implied, de is a common equivalent of English from:

Use to show possession or belonging

In this case, of is sometimes a possible translation, although the most usual equivalent in English is to use a possessive form with 's or, particularly with a common combination of inanimates, with a compound:

Note the use with superlatives, where English tends to favour in:

With 'speaking' verbs such as parler, causer, se plaindre, de is the equivalent of about (though of is often possible too in formal English):

Where there isn't one of these verbs, about in this sense is usually translated by sur or au sujet de:

French uses de with a kind of 'implied passive': to denote the person that wrote or produced something, or the object that performed an action. In English, we tend to prefer by (or a compound) with people, and with or in with inanimates:

By extension, it is also used to express 'manner' where English tends to use in:

As an extension of its prepositional use, de is a common way of forming compounds in French.

de can introduce the material that something is made from; common translations are made of, made from, of, or to use a noun-noun compound:

In many cases, en is a possible (though sometimes more poetic-sounding) alternative.

Used to denote contents

de is used in expressions such as une bouteille de, un verre de, denoting a container and its contents:

As well as a preposition, de can be a type of determiner to introduce a noun phrase.

French de combines with the definite article to form what is sometimes called an indefinite article ('some', 'any') or a partitive article ('of the', 'of some'):

Note that the above are ambiguous: du beurre can mean 'some (unspecified) buffer', or 'some of the (specific) butter'. One way of analysing this is to say that du beurre can be short for de du beurre, and to say that repetitions of de are always deleted (see below). de can also form partitive constructions with other determiners, translated as some of...:

The deletion of repeated de forms gives:

de instead of des before a plural adjective

Immediately before a plural adjective, formal or careful usage often prefers de to des:

de as the equivalent of 'an', 'any' in the negative

In the negative (but not the interrogative), de is commonly used on its own instead of an indefinite article (un, du, des etc) as the rough equivalent of 'a', 'no' or 'any':

However, the indefinite is sometimes possible, in particular to mark a contrast. And it is normally used with être:

The form d'autres

The form d'autres is a fixed form meaning 'other...', 'some other...'. Despite what we said above, it is sometimes possible to combine with de. For example, [ROWLETT2007] gives the example des disques de d'autres catégories musicales.

The word de can be the equivalent of English to used to 'introduce' a verb in the infinitive (or in some constructions an -ing form) where de would not be used if a noun phrase was used instead:

There are a few instances where de is used as a 'filler' in French where no translation is needed in English.

When an indefinite noun phrase is qualified by a past participle, de is inserted in French with no equivalent in English. It's also used in expressions involving quelque:

With être and quantities

It is also used in cases such as this:

where this can perhaps be imagined as a paraphrase of ...sera _un salaire de_....

When isn't 'de' used?

From the above, we might assume that de is used in a few cases where in fact other expressions tend to be used:

French tends to favour à, or another preposition representing location, as the translation for 'from' in cases where the notion of provenance or movement isn't very strong, and in particular where à denotes a combination of 'possession' and 'removal' or 'deprivation':

Whether à or de is used seems to depend on how strong the notion of 'movement' is. Hence contrasts such as the following: