How do you say “some” and “any” in French?
The word “de” can be used to express “some” or “any” in French
de
The words “de” and “à” each have two meanings:
de – of / from
à – at / to
je voudrais aller à Paris – I would like to go to Paris
je suis à la plage – I am at the beach
le souvenir est de Paris – the souvenir is from Paris
c’est une bouteille de vin – it’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 farine – I’ve bought some flour
j’ai acheté du sucre – I’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 like – je voudrais
I’ve bought – j’ai acheté
do you have – avez-vous
- I would like some apples (an apple – une pomme)
- I've bought some bananas (a banana – une banane)
- Do you have any tables? (a table – une table)
- I would like some cheese (the cheese – le fromage)
- I've bought some sugar (the sugar – le sucre)
- Do you have any wine? (the wine – le vin)
- I would like some flour (the flour – la farine)
- I've bought some vodka (the vodka – la vodka)
- Do you have any money? (the money – l’argent)
- I would like some flowers (a flower – une fleur)
- I've bought some eggs (an egg – un œuf)
- Do you have any children? (a child – un enfant)
- I would like some water (the water – l’eau)
- I've bought some socks (a sock – une chaussette)
- Do you have any bags? (a bag – un sac)
ANSWERS
- Je voudrais des pommes / Je voudrais quelques pommes
- J’ai acheté des bananes / J’ai acheté quelques bananes
- Avez-vous des tables?
- Je voudrais du fromage
- J’ai acheté du sucre
- Avez-vous du vin?
- Je voudrais de la farine
- J’ai acheté de la vodka
- Avez-vous de l’argent?
- Je voudrais des fleurs / Je voudrais quelques fleurs
- J’ai acheté des œufs / J’ai acheté quelques œufs
- Avez-vous des enfants?
- Je voudrais de l’eau
- J’ai acheté des chaussettes / J’ai acheté quelques chaussettes
- Avez-vous des sacs?
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