Question 1

Why is there a du before beurre?

Accepted Answer

In English, we just say "with butter," but in French, you almost never use a noun without an article. Because butter is a "mass noun"—a food or substance you measure rather than count—you must use a partitive article. It acts like the English word "some." So, avec du beurre is like saying "with some butter."

Question 2

How is du formed here?

Accepted Answer

du is a mandatory contraction. It combines de (which helps form the partitive article) and le (the masculine word for "the"). In French, de and le are never allowed to sit next to each other; they always merge to become du.

Question 3

If beurre were feminine, would it still use du?

Accepted Answer

No! Because beurre is masculine, it uses du. If the food were feminine, like pomme (apple), you would use de la (e.g., de la confiture for jam). If it started with a vowel, like eau (water), you would use de l'eau.

Question 4

Why does the sentence say Je fais la cuisine? Isn't there a verb for "to cook"?

Accepted Answer

French does have a single verb for cooking (cuisiner), and you could say Je cuisine avec du beurre. However, the phrase faire la cuisine (literally "to do the cooking") is a very common expression used to describe the general everyday act of preparing a meal.

Je fais la cuisine avec du beurre.

Breakdown of Je fais la cuisine avec du beurre.

Questions & Answers about Je fais la cuisine avec du beurre.

Learn Je fais la cuisine avec du beurre and more in French