As French learners, you have probably come across many words in French that may be short, but which can be tricky to get your head around. This is because there are many French contractions – words that are the combined form of two words.
Today we’re going to focus on some of the most common French contractions: du, des, au and aux. These are called contracted articles in French and if you’ve previously been confused by them, don’t worry!
The Coffee Break French Show is a video and audio podcast series, in which we discuss and explain interesting French language topics for learners. In our most recent episode, Pierre-Benoît and Max are here to equip you with the knowledge to use French contractions confidently in your conversations.
If you’re ready, let’s get into our topic for today and learn more about French contractions , and we’d suggest listening along to the podcast as you read.
Plus, look out for your free worksheet at the bottom of this article, which will help you put what you’ve learned to the test. C’est parti !
Before we look at how to form and use French contractions, do you know what du, des, au and aux all have in common?
All four of these French contractions incorporate a definite article. Like in English, there are both definite and indefinite articles in French, and when we talk about definite articles, we are referring to the words for “the”.
As you probably already know, in French there are four words for “the”. Let’s do a quick review of these.
le
the (masculine singular)
la
the (feminine singular)
les
the (masculine and feminine plural)
l’
the (masculine and feminine singular when the noun starts with a vowel or silent h-)
L’ is used with both masculine and feminine singular nouns that start with a vowel or a silent h-. For example:
l’université
the university
l’homme
the man
l’heure
the hour, the time
When the definite articles in French meet prepositions, some of them undergo contraction, resulting in the words we’re exploring today: du, des, au and aux.
So, what happens when we use de in front of these definite articles?
Let’s start by looking at what happens when the preposition de meets the masculine singular definite article, le.
de + le = du
In contexts where le means “the”, it is not possible to have de le together – they always merge to become du. Du is therefore an example of a contracted article in French.
Watch out for the pronunciation of the u vowel sound in du, as it is a very commonly used word, which is easily confused with doux (“soft”) or d’où (“from where” or “hence”). For help with the difference between the vowel sounds u and ou in French, you can find our podcast episode and article here.
Now, let’s look at what happens when the preposition de meets the feminine singular definite article, la.
de + la = de la
This one is straightforward, as de and la can always exist side by side and there is therefore no contraction.
When de is followed by the plural definite article, les, this becomes another contracted article in French.
de + les = des
It is not possible to have de les together in this context – it always changes to des.
Finally, when de is followed by the definite article l’, like de la, it is straightforward and there is no contraction.
de + l’ = de l’
But what do the French contractions du, de la, des and de l’ mean? These four forms of de + definite article often translate as “of the” or “from the”.
However, in other contexts, they function as partitive articles in French. Partitive articles are used to express unspecified quantities of a noun and are used where in English we would use “some” or simply no article at all.
du pain
some bread (or simply “bread”)
de la confiture
jam, some jam
des fruits
fruit, some fruit
de l’alcool
alcohol, some alcohol
Another situation in which we commonly see the combination of de and the French definite articles is when we have a verb that requires the preposition de, which is then followed by a definite article and a noun.
For instance, we can take the following verbal phrase, which requires the preposition de:
avoir besoin de
to need
If you want to say that you need the phone, we’re going to see a contracted article in French. This is because le téléphone is a masculine singular noun, and the de will merge with the le:
J’ai besoin du téléphone.
I need the phone.
Another verb that is sometimes followed by the preposition de is parler.
parler de
to talk about
parler de la pluie et du beau temps
to chit-chat, to make small talk, to talk about trivial things
This French idiom literally means “to talk about the rain and the good weather”.
Now an example with a plural noun:
Nous parlons des vacances.
We’re talking about the holiday / vacation.
Finally, let’s see some examples of contracted articles with de following the verb penser.
penser de
to think of (in the sense of having an opinion on something)
Qu’est-ce que tu penses du film ?
What do you think of the movie?
Qu’est-ce que tu penses de l’histoire ?
What do you think of the story?
Now, let’s see what happens when we use à in front of the definite articles in French.
When the preposition à meets the masculine singular definite article, le, there is a contraction.
à + le = au
Just as we saw before with du, in contexts where le means “the”, it is not possible to have à le together – they always merge together to form the French contraction au. Au is therefore another example of a contracted article in French.
Similarly, just as de la is possible in all contexts, à and la can also always exist side by side and there is therefore no contraction in French.
à + la = à la
When à is followed by the plural definite article, les, this becomes another contracted article in French.
à + les = aux
Finally, when à is followed by the definite article l’, like de l’, it is straightforward and there is no contraction in French.
à + l’ = à l’
There are many verbs that require the preposition à after them, when they are followed by a noun. This means that we often come across à followed by a definite article in French.
Let’s take a look at some examples, starting with the verb aller:
aller à
to go to
Je vais au cinéma.
I’m going to the cinema.
Je vais à la piscine.
I’m going to the swimming pool.
Earlier, we mentioned penser de. However, the verb penser is also sometimes used with the preposition à.
penser à
to think about (in the sense of having something on your mind)
Je pense aux films qu’on a vus ensemble.
I’m thinking about the movies we watched together.
Did you notice the spelling of vus? If you’re wondering about that extra -s on the end, you can find out more about the preceding direct object rule in French.
The final point to mention on the topic of contracted articles in French is that there are some situations where de le, de les, à le and à les do exist side by side, and don’t merge into the French contractions du, des, au and aux.
This happens when the le or les is not functioning as a definite article, but instead as a direct object pronoun. For example:
J’ai besoin de le contacter.
I need to contact him.
J’ai peur de les déranger.
I’m afraid to disturb them.
Pense à le rappeler !
Think about calling him back!
In these three sentences, the le or les are direct object pronouns, which means that they don’t form contracted articles with the preposition de or à.
We hope that you now have a better understanding of French contractions and, in particular, that you feel equipped to use the tricky words du, des, au and aux with confidence.
If you haven’t already, join Pierre-Benoît and Max in the podcast version of this lesson on The Coffee Break French Show to learn more about French contractions . And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast feed and our channel on YouTube to find out when the next episode is released, which will be on another useful topic for French learners.
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