The word “de” can be used to express “some” or “any” in French

de

The words “de” and “à” each have two meanings:

deof / from
àat / to

je voudrais aller à ParisI would like to go to Paris
je suis à la plageI am at the beach
le souvenir est de Paristhe souvenir is from Paris
c’est une bouteille de vinit’s a bottle of wine

quelques

There is a second word for “some”, which you can use in front of plural nouns: quelques. It can be translated either as “some” or as “a few”, and usually, you can use it interchangeably with “des”.

j’ai acheté quelques pommes I’ve bought some / a few apples

You could also use “des” in that sentence:

j’ai acheté des pommes I’ve bought some apples

You can’t use “quelques” in front of singular nouns; you have to use “du” or “de la” instead:

j'ai acheté de la farineI’ve bought some flour
j’ai acheté du sucreI’ve bought some sugar

Let's practise

Have a go at saying the sentences below in French. Firstly, here’s some vocabulary you may need:

I would likeje voudrais
I’ve boughtj’ai acheté
do you haveavez-vous

  1. I would like some apples (an apple une pomme)
  2. I've bought some bananas (a banana une banane)
  3. Do you have any tables? (a table une table)
  4. I would like some cheese (the cheese le fromage)
  5. I've bought some sugar (the sugar le sucre)
  6. Do you have any wine? (the wine le vin)
  7. I would like some flour (the flour la farine)
  8. I've bought some vodka (the vodka la vodka)
  9. Do you have any money? (the money l’argent)
  10. I would like some flowers (a flower une fleur)
  11. I've bought some eggs (an egg un œuf)
  12. Do you have any children? (a child un enfant)
  13. I would like some water (the water l’eau)
  14. I've bought some socks (a sock une chaussette)
  15. Do you have any bags? (a bag un sac)

ANSWERS

  1. Je voudrais des pommes / Je voudrais quelques pommes
  2. J’ai acheté des bananes / J’ai acheté quelques bananes
  3. Avez-vous des tables?
  4. Je voudrais du fromage
  5. J’ai acheté du sucre
  6. Avez-vous du vin?
  7. Je voudrais de la farine
  8. J’ai acheté de la vodka
  9. Avez-vous de l’argent?
  10. Je voudrais des fleurs / Je voudrais quelques fleurs
  11. J’ai acheté des œufs / J’ai acheté quelques œufs
  12. Avez-vous des enfants?
  13. Je voudrais de l’eau
  14. J’ai acheté des chaussettes / J’ai acheté quelques chaussettes
  15. Avez-vous des sacs?