Neues Konzept
After a negative: just de
Here's a rule French learners come to love: after ne … pas, the partitive collapses to plain de — d' before a vowel.
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| Je mange du pain. | Je ne mange pas de pain. — I don't eat bread. |
| *Elle boit **de l'*eau. | *Elle ne boit **pas d'*eau. — She doesn't drink water. |
| On a des fruits. | On n'a pas de fruits. — We don't have any fruit. |
The same happens to un, une: J'ai un chien. → Je n'ai pas de chien. — I don't have a dog.
But le, la, les don't change: J'aime le fromage. → Je n'aime pas le fromage. — I don't like cheese.