How to use the French preposition de
The preposition de in French (pronunciation: də) means both of and from. De is one of the most widely used preposition in the French language. This page provides a complete list of its usages with example sentences.
De French pronunciation
The pronunciation of de sounds like “duh” in English. Furthermore, de in French rhymes with je (I). This page on Forvo offers several audio samples.
List of usages of de in French
De is used to expression possession
De can be used to express possession. C’est la maison de Claude, for example, means “It’s Claude’s house”.
- La voiture de Jacques Jacques’ car
- La maison de Marie Marie’s house
- Le vélo de Jean Jean’s bike
Possession can also be expressed with possessive adjectives. For example, C’est sa maison (It’s his house. This page on our site covers possessive adjectives in detail.
Another way to expression possession is to use the construction être à + person. For example, La maison est à Marie (It’s Marie’s house). We cover this rule on our être (to be) page.
What something holds
The construction noun + de + noun is used to express the holding of a substance. For example, Je tiens une tasse de café (I’m holding a cup of coffee).
- Une tasse de café a cup of coffee
- Un bol de soup a bowl of soup
- Une assiette de fromage a plate of cheese
- Un verre de vin a glass of wine
This differs from the construction noun + à + noun, which is used to express “is used for” or “serves as”. For example, une tasse à thé (a tea cup), meaning a coup used for drinking tea.
Partitive article – when contracted
The French partitive article is used to express “some” and is often used when talking about food.
Essentially, it’s formed by contracting de with the definite article (le, la, les) that precedes the food name. We cover the partitive article in detail on our articles pages. Here are some examples:
- du fromage some cheese
- de la crème some cream
- des pommes some apples
Expression of origin
The preposition de is used to express origin. For example, Je suis de France (I’m from France) or Je suis du Canada (I’m from Canada).
- l’avion de Paris the plane from Paris
- Elle est de Lyon. She’s from Lyon.
- Je suis des États-Unis. I’m from the United States.
Context of time
The preposition de is used in several time expressions. À partir de means “starting from” and the construction de…à means “from…to”.
- À partir de demain Starting from tomorrow
- De six heures à quatorze heures from 6 o’clock to 2 o’clock
Translates to of
De is often used as a direct translation of “of” in English. Here are several examples.
- Je suis fier de toi. I’m proud of you.
- La fin de la journée The end of the day
- Le premier jour de la semaine. The first day of the week.
Distinguishing labels
De is often frequently used in the names of places, businesses and departments. Here are some examples.
- La banque de commerce the trade bank
- La faculté de droit law department
- Le bureau de poste post office
By means of
De can also means “by means of” or simply “with” in English. For example:
- Écrire de main gauche to write with the left hand
- Pousser du pied to push with the foot
What a thing is for or how it’s described
One of the most common uses of de is to provide more information about a noun or how the noun is used. For example:
- La classe de français French class
- La raquette de tennis tennis racket
- La voiture de sport sports car
- Le numéro de téléphone telephone number
Avoir expressions
De is used in a number of expressions which require the verb avoir (to have). For example, J’ai besoin de la voiture (I need the car).
- Avoir envie de to want
- Avoir peur de to fear
- Avoir besoin de to need
- Avoir honte de to be ashamed of
Verbs are followed de
In French, many verbs are followed by de. For example, Je refuse de partir (I refuse to leave). This page offers a complete list of French verbs followed by de.
- Accepter de to accept
- Décider de to decide
- Demander de to ask
- Refuser de to refuse
- Penser de to think of
- Parler de to talk about
Time expressions
The preposition de can also be fount in many time expressions.
- De temps en temps from time to time
- De bonne heure early
- De nos jours nowadays
- D’abord first of all
Faire expressions and activities
De often follows the verb faire (to make, to do) names of hobbies and activities. This page offers a comprehensive list of faire expressions.
- Faire du stop to hitchhike
- Faire du mal to hurt
- Faire du vélo bike riding
- Faire du ski skiing
- Faire de la voile sailing
- Faire de la moto motorcycling
- Faire des études to do one’s studies
Compound prepositions
The preposition de can also be found in many advanced compound expressions. For example:
- À cause de because of
- Au milieu de in the middle of
- Auprès de next to
- Le long de along
Further your learning
Prepositions in French can be very challenging, even for advanced students. For this reason, we suggest taking a look at the prepositions chapter (Chapter 21) in the book Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French All-in-One.
