Learn French: Elle achète une douzaine d'œufs, un paquet de café et un litre de lait. - She is buying a dozen eggs, a packet of coffee and a liter of milk.

Elle achète une douzaine d'œufs, un paquet de café et un litre de lait.

She is buying a dozen eggs, a packet of coffee and a liter of milk.

Breakdown of Elle achète une douzaine d'œufs, un paquet de café et un litre de lait.

Questions & Answers about Elle achète une douzaine d'œufs, un paquet de café et un litre de lait.

Why is it d'œufs instead of des œufs since there are multiple eggs?

This is the golden rule for expressing quantities in French! After a quantity word like une douzaine (a dozen), you always use de (or d' before a vowel) instead of des, even if the item is plural. You use this exact same rule after combien (how many).

Would I normally say du café and du lait if the sentence didn't mention a packet or a liter?

Yes! If she were just buying some coffee or some milk, you would say elle achète du café et du lait. But the moment you add a specific measure like un paquet (a packet) or un litre (a liter), the du changes to just de.

How do you pronounce the word œufs in this sentence?

In the plural word œufs, the 'f' and the 's' are completely silent. This is a special tricky exception, because in the singular form un œuf (an egg), you actually do pronounce the 'f' at the end!

I noticed an accent on the 'e' in achète. Does the verb always have that?

No, the infinitive form is acheter (to buy) with no accent. French adds that grave accent for certain subjects (like je, tu, and elle) so you know to pronounce it with a clear 'eh' sound.