Breakdown of Vous faites un gâteau avec du chocolat.
vous
you (plural/formal)
avec
with
faire
to do, to make
du
some (partitive, masculine)
le gâteau
the cake
le chocolat
the chocolate
Questions & Answers about Vous faites un gâteau avec du chocolat.
Why do we say "du chocolat" instead of just "le chocolat"?
Why does "gâteau" get "un" but "chocolat" gets "du"?
It comes down to what you can count. Un gâteau is a single, countable object (a whole cake), so it uses the indefinite article un (a). Chocolat is an ingredient being used in a mass amount, so it uses the partitive article du (some).
If I were making the cake with flour (farine, feminine), would it still be "du"?
No, because farine is feminine. The partitive article changes based on gender. For a feminine uncountable noun, you use de la, so it would be avec de la farine (with some flour).
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