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Elle boit du thé au lieu du café.

Elle boit du thé au lieu du café.
She drinks tea instead of coffee.
From Lesson 148:Impersonal expressions (il est important de)·French

Questions & Answers about Elle boit du thé au lieu du café.

Why is it "du thé" and not just "thé"?
In English, we can just say "tea," but French almost always requires an article before a noun. Since tea is a mass, uncountable substance, we use the partitive article du (which essentially means "some").
What is the exact meaning of "au lieu de"?
Au lieu de is a fixed expression that means "instead of." Literally, it translates to "at the place of." You can use it before nouns, or before verbs in the infinitive (for example, au lieu de partir means "instead of leaving").
If the expression is "au lieu de", why does it say "au lieu du café" here?
In French, nouns talked about in a general sense (like "coffee") require a definite article (le, la, or les). So, "coffee" is le café. When the de from au lieu de meets le café, they must contract into du (de + le = du).
Wait, so the two "du" words in this sentence represent different grammar rules?
Exactly! The first one (du thé) is a partitive article meaning "some tea." The second one (du café) is a contraction of the preposition de and the definite article le. They look identical but do completely different jobs!

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