Partitive After Negation: becomes de/d'

In a normal sentence, we use partitive articles. These are du (masculine), de la (feminine), de l' (vowel), and des (plural). They mean "some" or "any." For example, Je mange du pain means "I am eating some bread." But French logic dictates that if you aren't eating it, the quantity is zero. When the quantity is zero, the gender and number of the noun stop mattering. The sentence focuses on the absence itself. So, the du or des vanishes. It is replaced by a fixed de. It stays de whether the noun was masculine, feminine, or plural. It acts as a universal marker for "none of." Think of it like a grammar traffic light turning red. Everything stops and waits for de to take over.

1. 1Start with your affirmative sentence like J'ai des pommes.
2. 2Identify the partitive article (du, de la, de l', or des).
3. 3Wrap your verb in the negative sandwich ne ... pas.
4. 4Replace that partitive article with a simple de.
5. 5If the next word starts with a vowel, use d' instead.
6. 6Keep the noun exactly as it was (usually singular or plural as before).

You use this rule every single time you deny having or doing "some" of something. It shows up in almost every conversation. Imagine you are at a cafe. The waiter asks if you want sugar. You say Je ne prends pas de sucre. Or you are in a job interview. They ask if you have experience. You might say Je n'ai pas d'expérience. It applies to abstract things too. If you are feeling brave, you might say Je n'ai pas de peur. Basically, if you can say "I don't have any [thing]," you need this rule. It covers food, emotions, materials, and generic plural items. It is the backbone of saying "no" in French.

There is one giant exception that catches everyone. If your verb is être (to be), the rule breaks. The articles stay exactly as they are. This is because être describes what something *is*, not a quantity of it. If you say Ce n'est pas du café, you keep the du. Why? Because you are identifying the liquid, not talking about how much you have. Another time to avoid it is when you are being very specific. If you are contrasting two specific things, you might keep the article. For example, Je ne veux pas du vin rouge, je veux du vin blanc. Here, you are choosing between specific types, not saying you want "no wine at all."

The biggest mistake is being "too helpful." You remember that "books" are des livres. So, you say Je n'ai pas des livres. It feels right because books are plural. But your brain needs to override that. Remember: the negative pas is a bully. It kicks des out of the sentence. Another classic error is forgetting the apostrophe. If you say Je n'ai pas de argent, it sounds clunky. French hates two vowels hitting each other. Always use d'argent. Finally, don't use de with the verb aimer. You don't say Je n'aime pas de café. You say Je n'aime pas le café. This is because liking something is a general preference, not a quantity.

This rule looks a lot like adverbs of quantity. When you say beaucoup de (a lot of) or un peu de (a little of), you also use de. It is the same logic. You are defining a specific amount, so the article disappears. The negative is just another version of this. It is the "zero" adverb of quantity. Think of pas de as the cousin of beaucoup de. They both use that tiny de to link to the noun. This is actually a gift! Once you learn one, you've basically learned the other. It’s a "two-for-one" grammar deal.