If à is the first great workhorse of French prepositions, de is the second. It is everywhere: in possession (le livre de Pierre), in origin (je viens de Paris), in composition (une tasse de café), in partitives (du pain), in countless fixed verb complements (parler de, avoir besoin de, oublier de), and in adjective constructions (content de partir). A typical French sentence contains de two or three times, often with different jobs each time.
This page surveys the major uses of de with examples for each. As with à, the contractions are mandatory: de + le = du, de + les = des. The feminine de la and the elided de l' never contract.
A note before we start: in front of a vowel or h-muet, de itself is elided to d'. De Italie becomes d'Italie. De une amie becomes d'une amie. This elision is automatic in writing and unavoidable in speech.
De for origin: from
The first and most concrete meaning of de is from — the starting point of a movement or the place of origin.
Je viens de Paris.
I'm from Paris.
Le train arrive de Marseille à dix-huit heures.
The train arrives from Marseille at six p.m.
Mes parents sont rentrés du Japon hier soir.
My parents got back from Japan last night.
Tu es originaire d'où ?
Where are you originally from?
For cities, de alone is enough: de Paris, de Lyon, de Tokyo. For feminine countries, the article is dropped: de France, d'Italie, d'Espagne — never de la France in this origin context. For masculine and plural countries, the article and contraction kick in: du Canada, du Japon, des États-Unis, des Pays-Bas.
Mon collègue revient des États-Unis la semaine prochaine.
My colleague is coming back from the United States next week.
Cette tradition vient d'Italie, pas de France.
This tradition comes from Italy, not from France.
The preposition de also marks origin metaphorically — the source of an idea, a quote, a person.
C'est une citation de Camus.
It's a quote from Camus.
J'ai reçu une lettre de ma grand-mère.
I got a letter from my grandmother.
De for possession: of, 's
In English, possession is marked by 's (Pierre's book) or by of (the king of France). French uses de for both, with no apostrophe-s equivalent. De sits between the thing possessed and the possessor.
C'est le livre de Pierre.
It's Pierre's book.
La voiture de mes parents est très vieille.
My parents' car is very old.
La capitale de la France est Paris.
The capital of France is Paris.
Le titre du film m'échappe.
The film's title escapes me.
The order is fixed: thing + de + possessor. English's Pierre's book reverses the order; French insists on the possessed-first sequence. A common transfer error from English is to try de Pierre le livre — this is ungrammatical.
When the possessor is preceded by le or les, the contraction is forced as always: du film, du directeur, des enfants.
Le bureau du directeur est au troisième étage.
The director's office is on the third floor.
Les opinions des étudiants comptent.
The students' opinions matter.
De for composition: of, with
When you describe what something is made of or contains, de is the standard preposition. This use is closely related to possession but covers a different conceptual job: not who owns it but what it consists of.
Une tasse de café, s'il vous plaît.
A cup of coffee, please.
Un verre d'eau, ça vous dit ?
A glass of water, would you like one?
Un kilo de tomates et un litre de lait.
A kilo of tomatoes and a litre of milk.
Une boîte de chocolats — c'est pour qui ?
A box of chocolates — who is it for?
Crucially, with quantity expressions like une tasse de, un verre de, un kilo de, une boîte de, the article is omitted. You do not say une tasse du café — you say une tasse de café. The bare de is enough, because the quantity word already does the work of specifying.
This is why a French menu reads une tarte aux pommes (with article — describing flavour with à) but un kilo de pommes (without article — measuring quantity with de).
De for the partitive: some, any
This is one of de's most distinctive jobs. To say some or any before a mass or uncountable noun, French uses du, de la, de l', des — the partitive article, which is just de fused with the definite article. There is no English-style determiner here; de + article does the work.
Je voudrais du pain et du fromage.
I'd like some bread and some cheese.
Tu as de la chance.
You're lucky. (Literally: you have some luck.)
On boit de l'eau pétillante avec le repas.
We drink sparkling water with the meal.
Il y a des nuages, mais il fait beau quand même.
There are some clouds, but the weather is nice anyway.
After a negation, the partitive collapses to bare de (or d' before a vowel):
Je ne veux pas de café.
I don't want any coffee.
Il n'y a plus d'eau dans le frigo.
There's no more water in the fridge.
On n'a pas de pain pour le dîner.
We don't have any bread for dinner.
The pattern is sharp: positive partitive uses the full du / de la / de l' / des; negation collapses it to de alone. This is one of the most distinctive features of French and a frequent source of error.
De for verb complements: about, of, from
A large group of French verbs take de before their complement. The choice is lexical — meaning the verb-preposition pairing is fixed by the verb itself and must be memorized. This is the single biggest source of preposition errors for learners.
On parle souvent de toi à la maison.
We often talk about you at home.
J'ai besoin de ton aide pour ce projet.
I need your help with this project.
Elle se souvient de notre voyage en Italie.
She remembers our trip to Italy.
Tu as décidé de partir quand ?
When did you decide to leave?
N'oublie pas de fermer la porte.
Don't forget to close the door.
The verbs that take de form a long list: parler de, avoir besoin de, avoir envie de, avoir peur de, se souvenir de, s'occuper de, se moquer de, se servir de, se passer de, dépendre de, douter de, profiter de, jouir de, manquer de, décider de, essayer de, finir de, oublier de, refuser de, accepter de, choisir de, mériter de, regretter de, conseiller de, suggérer de, permettre de, défendre de, empêcher de.
For the full list and contrast with à-verbs, see À vs De with verbs and De with verbs.
De for adjective complements: of, to, about
A parallel group of adjectives takes de before their complement (often an infinitive). This use is high-frequency.
Je suis content de te voir.
I'm happy to see you.
Elle est fière de ses enfants.
She is proud of her children.
Il est capable de tout.
He's capable of anything.
Tu as l'air fatigué de ta journée.
You look tired from your day.
Common adjective + de pairings: content de, heureux de, ravi de, fier de, jaloux de, capable de, sûr de, certain de, conscient de, fatigué de, plein de, vide de, responsable de, amoureux de.
The pattern often combines with an infinitive: content de partir (happy to leave), fier d'avoir réussi (proud to have succeeded). When the verb behind the adjective is in compound form (have done X), French uses the infinitif passé: fier d'avoir réussi, not fier d'avoir réussir.
De in fixed adverbial phrases
De anchors many fixed phrases that act as adverbs.
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| de temps en temps | from time to time |
| de plus en plus | more and more |
| de moins en moins | less and less |
| de bon matin | early in the morning |
| de bonne heure | early |
| d'habitude | usually |
| d'ailleurs | besides, by the way |
| de plus | moreover |
| de toute façon | in any case |
| de nouveau | again |
| de suite | in a row, immediately (informal) |
| de loin | by far, from far away |
| de près | closely, from close up |
D'habitude, je me lève de bonne heure, mais ce matin j'étais trop fatigué.
Usually, I get up early, but this morning I was too tired.
De toute façon, on se voit ce soir, donc on en reparlera.
In any case, we'll see each other tonight, so we'll talk about it again.
De + infinitive
Like à, de often connects a verb to a following infinitive. Whether a given verb takes à, de, or no preposition is purely lexical.
J'essaie de comprendre, mais c'est difficile.
I'm trying to understand, but it's difficult.
Elle a refusé de répondre à mes questions.
She refused to answer my questions.
Je viens de finir mon devoir.
I just finished my homework. (Note: 'venir de + inf' = 'have just done'.)
On a oublié de fermer la fenêtre avant de partir.
We forgot to close the window before leaving.
A particularly important construction: venir de + infinitive = the passé récent (the recent past). Je viens de manger means I have just eaten. This is one of the most common ways to refer to a very recent action, and it relies on de.
Tu viens d'arriver ? Comment c'était, le voyage ?
Did you just arrive? How was the trip?
After certain prepositions and conjunctions, de + infinitive is forced: avant de partir (before leaving), au lieu de travailler (instead of working), afin de réussir (in order to succeed). English uses -ing in these slots; French uses de + infinitive.
Avant de partir, n'oublie pas de fermer la porte à clé.
Before leaving, don't forget to lock the door.
Au lieu de te plaindre, fais quelque chose.
Instead of complaining, do something.
De for time spans: from / from-to
To express a starting point or a span of time, de often pairs with à or jusqu'à.
Je travaille de huit heures à dix-huit heures.
I work from eight to six.
Le magasin est ouvert du lundi au samedi.
The shop is open from Monday to Saturday.
On a discuté du début à la fin de la réunion.
We discussed it from the beginning to the end of the meeting.
The pattern de X à Y covers both time and space: de Paris à Marseille (from Paris to Marseille), de huit heures à dix-huit heures (from eight to six). Notice the article disappears in front of days (du lundi au samedi) but is preserved with named events.
De as agent of the passive (with feeling verbs)
Most passives in French use par to mark the agent: La lettre a été écrite par Jean. But for verbs of feeling, perception, or stable relationship, de is preferred.
Le directeur est respecté de tous ses employés.
The director is respected by all his employees.
Cette chanteuse est aimée de millions de fans.
This singer is loved by millions of fans.
Le château est entouré d'un jardin magnifique.
The castle is surrounded by a magnificent garden.
The verbs that prefer de-agent in the passive: aimer, respecter, craindre, connaître, accompagner, suivre, entourer, précéder. With dynamic verbs of action (écrire, construire, manger), use par: écrit par Jean, mangé par le chien. The split is roughly stative-vs-dynamic.
De before a quantity-modified noun
After expressions of quantity — beaucoup, peu, assez, trop, plus, moins, autant, combien, plusieurs — French uses bare de with no article.
Il y a beaucoup de monde au marché aujourd'hui.
There are a lot of people at the market today.
Je n'ai pas assez de temps pour tout finir.
I don't have enough time to finish everything.
Combien d'enfants tu as ?
How many children do you have?
Il y a trop de bruit ici, on peut sortir ?
It's too noisy here, can we go outside?
The article disappears: beaucoup de monde (not beaucoup du monde), combien d'enfants (not combien des enfants). The exceptions are la plupart (the majority) and bien in the sense of many, both of which keep the article: la plupart des gens (most people), bien des fois (many times).
La plupart des étudiants ont réussi l'examen.
Most students passed the exam.
Common Mistakes
These are the errors English speakers make most often with de. Each pair shows the wrong form first.
❌ Le livre de le professeur.
Incorrect — de + le must contract to du.
✅ Le livre du professeur.
The teacher's book.
❌ J'ai besoin un café.
Incorrect — avoir besoin requires de before its complement.
✅ J'ai besoin d'un café.
I need a coffee.
❌ Je veux pas du pain.
Incorrect — partitive collapses to de after negation.
✅ Je ne veux pas de pain.
I don't want any bread.
❌ Beaucoup des gens sont d'accord.
Incorrect — beaucoup takes bare de, not des.
✅ Beaucoup de gens sont d'accord.
Many people agree.
❌ Je viens de la France.
Incorrect — feminine countries drop the article after de.
✅ Je viens de France.
I'm from France.
❌ Je me souviens notre voyage.
Incorrect — se souvenir takes de.
✅ Je me souviens de notre voyage.
I remember our trip.
❌ Une tasse du café.
Incorrect — quantity expressions take bare de, no article.
✅ Une tasse de café.
A cup of coffee.
❌ Avant partir, ferme la porte.
Incorrect — avant de + infinitive is required (avant alone takes a noun).
✅ Avant de partir, ferme la porte.
Before leaving, close the door.
Key takeaways
- De covers from, of, about, by, with depending on context — like à, it is wildly polyvalent.
- De + le = du, de + les = des. De + la and de + l' never contract.
- Possession is thing + de + possessor: le livre de Pierre, la voiture de mes parents.
- The partitive du / de la / de l' / des expresses some / any — and collapses to bare de after negation (except with être).
- After quantity words (beaucoup, peu, assez, trop, combien), de takes no article: beaucoup de gens.
- Many verbs (parler de, avoir besoin de, oublier de, décider de) and adjectives (content de, fier de, capable de) require de — these are lexical and must be memorized.
- Venir de + infinitive = the recent past: je viens d'arriver (I have just arrived).
- De is also the preposition of choice with feelings/perceptions in the passive: aimé de tous, respecté de ses employés.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- French Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A systematic survey of the French preposition system — place, time, manner, cause, and purpose — plus the obligatory contractions au, aux, du, des.
- The Preposition ÀA1 — À is the most polyvalent preposition in French — covering location, direction, time, manner, possession, indirect objects, and more.
- The Contractions au, aux, du, desA1 — The mandatory contractions of à and de with le and les — a foundational mechanic that touches almost every French sentence.
- Verbes Suivis de DeB1 — The verbs that obligatorily take de before their noun complement — se souvenir de, avoir besoin de, parler de, profiter de, and the rest of the family — and how en and dont replace the de + noun.
- À vs De avec les Verbes + InfinitifA2 — Why French verbs link to a following infinitive with à, with de, or with nothing at all — the verb-by-verb pattern that has no clean rule but a manageable list of frequencies you can memorize.
- Les Prépositions Articulées: au, aux, du, desA1 — When the prepositions à and de meet the definite articles le and les, French forces a contraction — au, aux, du, des. This is one of the most-encountered mechanics in the language, and it lives in the determiner slot.