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When talking about food and baking, you will often need to find **une recette** (a recipe) and **ajouter** (to add) ingredients.

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### Expressing "some" with partitive articles

In English, we often say we are adding "some" sugar, or we just say "I am adding butter" without any article at all. In French, you *must* use an article before a noun. 

When dealing with mass nouns—uncountable ingredients like powders, liquids, and pastes—you use **partitive articles**. The form you choose depends on the gender and the first letter of the noun.

| Noun Type | Partitive Article | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | **du** | du sucre |
| Feminine | **de la** | de la farine |
| Vowel / Mute H | **de l'** | de l'huile |

### Masculine: du

For masculine uncountable nouns, use **du** (which is a contraction of *de* + *le*).

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### Feminine: de la

For feminine uncountable nouns, use **de la**.

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You will often use these together when listing what you have in your kitchen:

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### Vowels and Mute H: de l'

If the uncountable ingredient begins with a vowel or a mute *h*, the article contracts to **de l'**. This is true for both masculine and feminine nouns.

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Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and elision (le, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, une)

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Knowing facts vs. familiarity (savoir, connaître)

Question	Answer
the recipe	la recette
I am looking for an easy recipe.	Je cherche une recette facile.
to add	ajouter
the butter	le beurre
I am adding some butter to the recipe.	J'ajoute du beurre à la recette.
the sugar	le sucre
Do we add some sugar?	Est-ce que nous ajoutons du sucre ?
some (partitive, feminine)	de la
the flour	la farine
They are making a cake and they add some flour.	Ils font un gâteau et ils ajoutent de la farine.
the chocolate	le chocolat
You are making a cake with some chocolate.	Vous faites un gâteau avec du chocolat.
We are eating some bread with some butter.	Nous mangeons du pain avec du beurre.
the salt	le sel
There is some flour and some salt in the kitchen.	Il y a de la farine et du sel dans la cuisine.
the honey	le miel
We are hungry, we are eating some honey.	Nous avons faim, nous mangeons du miel.
You are adding some salt to the salad.	Tu ajoutes du sel dans la salade.
the cream	la crème
the oil (f)	l'huile
They are buying some cream and some oil.	Ils achètent de la crème et de l'huile.
She adds some cream to the coffee.	Elle ajoute de la crème dans le café.
We are looking for some oil at the supermarket.	Nous cherchons de l'huile au supermarché.
Is there some chocolate in the cake?	Est-ce qu'il y a du chocolat dans le gâteau ?
He is drinking some water with some honey.	Il boit de l'eau avec du miel.
We are buying some sugar for the dessert.	Nous achetons du sucre pour le dessert.
to cook, to do the cooking	faire la cuisine
I cook with butter.	Je fais la cuisine avec du beurre.
We cook together on the weekend.	Nous faisons la cuisine ensemble le week-end.
the pear	la poire
I am eating a pear.	Je mange une poire.
This pear is very good.	Cette poire est très bonne.
the yoghurt	le yaourt
I have a yoghurt for breakfast.	Je prends un yaourt au petit-déjeuner.
This yoghurt is very good.	Ce yaourt est très bon.
the baguette	la baguette
I buy a baguette at the bakery.	J'achète une baguette à la boulangerie.
The baguette is warm.	La baguette est chaude.
the baker	le boulanger
The baker makes the bread.	Le boulanger prépare le pain.
I am talking with the baker.	Je parle avec le boulanger.

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