Learn Hardcore French: J'achète de la farine pour faire du pain.

In French, when je is followed by a verb that begins with a vowel or a mute h, you drop the e of je and replace it with an apostrophe. So je + achète → j’achète. This elision prevents two vowels from clashing.

Why do we say de la farine instead of just la farine?

Here farine (“flour”) is an uncountable substance and you want to express “some flour.” French uses a partitive article for that idea: feminine singular → de la farine. If you said la farine, it would mean “the flour,” i.e. a specific flour you’ve already mentioned.

Why is it faire du pain and not faire le pain?

Similarly, pain (“bread”) is treated as a mass noun meaning “some bread.” The partitive article for masculine singular is du (contraction of de + le), so faire du pain = “to make (some) bread.” Saying faire le pain would mean “to make the bread,” as if you were referring to a particular loaf.

What does pour + infinitive express in pour faire du pain?

Pour followed by an infinitive expresses purpose or intention, equivalent to “in order to.” Here pour faire du pain literally means “in order to make bread.”

When should I use partitive articles like du, de la, de l’ or des?

Use partitive articles to indicate an unspecified quantity of something uncountable or abstract. The forms are:

du before masculine singular nouns (e.g. du pain)
de la before feminine singular nouns (e.g. de la farine)
de l’ before singular nouns beginning with a vowel or mute h (e.g. de l’eau)
des before plural nouns (e.g. des fruits)

Can I use the present tense j’achète to talk about a future action?

Yes. French often employs the simple present when the context makes the timing clear. For instance, J’achète de la farine demain means “I’m buying flour tomorrow.” If you want to be extra clear about the future, you can also say Je vais acheter de la farine (I’m going to buy flour).

Why does achète have an accent grave on the è?

Verbs like acheter modify their stem vowel to preserve the open /ɛ/ sound in certain forms (je, tu, il/elle, ils/elles). Without the accent grave (è), the letter e would be pronounced more like /ə/ or /e/, so the spelling changes to achète.

Is faire du pain the same as fabriquer du pain?

Both mean “to make bread,” but there’s a nuance:

faire du pain is the everyday, general expression (“to make” or “to bake”).
fabriquer du pain sounds more formal or industrial, as in “to manufacture” or “to produce” bread.