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French Expressions of Quantity
After a quantity word, French uses plain de — beaucoup de café, trop de bruit — never du, de la, or des. The quantity word already measures the amount, so the partitive article drops out completely:
Il y a beaucoup de monde et trop de bruit.
The same rule covers measures and containers: un kilo de tomates, une tasse de café. Only a few fixed expressions like la plupart des gens keep the article — they are listed below.
In short
- Quantity word + de: beaucoup de café, trop de bruit, assez de temps — never beaucoup du café.
- Measures and containers follow the same rule: un kilo de tomates, une bouteille d’eau.
- Exceptions that keep the article: la plupart des gens, bien des, and encore du café.
quantity word + deexception keeps the articlequelques (countables)· hover a highlighted word for its label
The rule: quantity word + de
In an ordinary sentence, "some coffee" needs a partitive article: du café. A quantity word does that measuring job itself, so the article disappears and bare de is all that remains — elided to d’ before a vowel sound:
beaucoup de café, peu de monde, plein d’idées
Plein de ("loads of") is colloquial — fine in speech, better avoided in formal writing. And once everyone knows which noun you mean, the whole de-phrase shrinks to the pronoun en — J’en bois beaucoup — covered under y and en.
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| beaucoup de | a lot of | beaucoup de café |
| trop de | too much / too many | trop de bruit |
| assez de | enough | assez de temps |
| peu de | little / few | peu de monde |
| un peu de | a little (uncountables only) | un peu de sucre |
| tant de | so much / so many | tant de questions |
| combien de | how much / how many | combien de temps ? |
| plein de (colloquial) | loads of | plein d’idées |
He drinks a lot of coffee in the morning.
— beaucoup de replaces du entirely — never beaucoup du café.
There is too much noise in this restaurant.
— Same pattern: trop de + noun, with no article in between.
We have enough time before the film.
— assez de works for countables and uncountables alike.
Un peu de vs quelques
Un peu de only measures uncountables: un peu de patience, un peu de sucre. Before a countable plural, switch to quelques — quelques livres, never un peu de livres.
Add a little sugar and a few strawberries.
— Uncountable sucre takes un peu de; countable fraises switch to quelques.
Measures and containers
Any measure or container is a quantity word too — and so are the noun-numbers un million and un milliard (but not cent or mille, which attach directly: cent personnes):
une tasse de café, un million de personnes
I bought a kilo of tomatoes and a bottle of water.
— un kilo de works exactly like beaucoup de; de elides before a vowel in une bouteille d’eau.
Exceptions that keep the article
A handful of fixed expressions keep the article — and watch out for encore, which means "more" but is not a quantity word at all. Plus de and moins de look similar, but they belong to the comparison system (plus de monde qu’hier), covered under comparative and superlative.
- La plupart des — "most": la plupart des gens, never la plupart de gens. With a plural noun the verb is plural: la plupart des gens pensent. Singular version: la plupart du temps.
- Bien des — "a good many" (formal): bien des erreurs.
- Encore du, encore de la — "more": encore du café, encore de la soupe, never encore de café.
Most people think French is difficult.
— La plupart des keeps des and takes a plural verb: pensent, not pense.
Do you want more coffee?
— encore du keeps the partitive — encore is not a quantity word.
Common mistakes
✗Elle a beaucoup du travail en ce moment.
✓Elle a beaucoup de travail en ce moment.
After beaucoup the partitive article disappears; only bare de remains.
✗Il y a trop des gens dans le métro.
✓Il y a trop de gens dans le métro.
Trop de works like beaucoup de: des also reduces to bare de after a quantity word.
✗La plupart de gens sont d’accord.
✓La plupart des gens sont d’accord.
La plupart is the exception: it keeps des before a plural noun.
Check yourself
1 / 4Elle boit beaucoup ___ thé.
2 / 4Je voudrais une bouteille ___ eau.
3 / 4La plupart ___ gens prennent le métro ici.
4 / 4Tu veux encore ___ soupe ?
Frequently asked questions
Is it beaucoup de or beaucoup du in French?
Always beaucoup de, or beaucoup d’ before a vowel: beaucoup de café, beaucoup d’amis. After a quantity word, du, de la, and des all disappear; only fixed expressions like la plupart des keep an article.
When should I use un peu de instead of quelques?
Un peu de goes with uncountable nouns: un peu de sucre, un peu de patience. For countable nouns, use quelques instead: quelques livres, quelques minutes.
Why is it la plupart des gens and not la plupart de gens?
La plupart is a fixed exception that keeps the article: la plupart des gens, la plupart du temps. With a plural noun it also takes a plural verb: la plupart des gens pensent.
Memory tip
Once beaucoup, trop, assez, or un kilo has measured the noun, du / de la / des has no job left — bare de does it all. Only fixed phrases like la plupart des and non-quantity encore refuse the rule.
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