Breakdown of Il boit de l'eau avec du miel.
il
he
l'eau
the water
avec
with
boire
to drink
du
some (partitive, masculine)
de la
some (partitive, feminine)
le miel
the honey
Questions & Answers about Il boit de l'eau avec du miel.
Why does the sentence use de l' before eau?
In French, you need a partitive article (meaning "some") before uncountable nouns like water. Even though eau (water) is a feminine word, it starts with a vowel, so the feminine article de la drops its "a" and contracts into de l' to make it easier to pronounce.
Where does the word du come from in du miel?
Could I just say Il boit eau avec miel without the articles?
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