This document introduces how to use "some" and "any" in French. For countable nouns, "some" is expressed using "des" and for uncountable nouns it depends on the noun's gender and starting letter. After a negative verb, "some" becomes "any" which is expressed using "de" or "d'". Examples are provided to demonstrate making sentences negative by changing "du/de la/de l'/des" to "de/d'". The summary teaches when to use each expression to talk about quantities in French.

1. Introducing Some and Any

2. 1. Some

3. French has four ways of saying some du de la de l’ des

4. How do you decide which one to choose? du de la de l’ des

5. Step 1 Countable or Uncountable? In the mind of a French speaker, everything that exists is either countable or uncountable.

6. Countable or Uncountable? A Noun is countable if it makes sense to put a number in front of it. dog chair car boy carrot flower 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. Countable or Uncountable? A Noun is countable if it makes sense to put a number in front of it. dog s chair s car s boy s carrot s flower s 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. Countable or Uncountable? A Noun is uncountable if it does not usually make sense to put a number in front of it. water cream rice bread meat air 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. Countable or Uncountable? A Noun is uncountable if it does not usually make sense to put a number in front of it. water s cream s rice s bread s meat s air s 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. Countables Saying some in front of countables is easy. Watch! dog s chair s car s boy s carrot s flower s

11. Countables Saying some in front of countables is easy. Watch! chiens chaises voitures gar çons carottes fleurs des des des des des des

12. Countables Saying some in front of countables is easy. Watch! chien s chaise s voiture s gar çon s carotte s fleur s de s de s de s de s de s de s

13. Uncountables Saying some in front of uncountables takes a little more thought.

14. Uncountables Uncountables will always be singular . What you need to know is whether they are masculine or feminine . Masculine Feminine pain riz air cr ème viande eau

15. Uncountables Masculine Feminine pain riz air cr ème viande eau du du de la de la With masculine Nouns, some is du With feminine Nouns, some is de la But, if the Noun begins with a vowel , use de l’ de l’ de l’

16. Summary How to say “some” Countables Uncountables Use des in front of the plural form of the Noun, e.g. de s carotte s Use du / de la / de l’ in front of the singular form of the Noun. e.g. du café , de la soupe

17. Hybrids Some Nouns can be either countable or uncountable depending on how you want to talk about them. Here are some examples:

18. Hybrids du café some coffee, i.e a quantity of liquid or beans. des cafés some coffees, i.e several cups of coffee. du poisson some fish, i.e some meat taken from a fish. des poissons some fish, i.e several individual fishes. de la confiture some jam, i.e. a quantity of jam. des confitures some jams, i.e. a selection of different jams. de l’eau minérale some mineral water, i.e. an undefined quantity. des eaux minérales a number of glasses or bottles of mineral water.

19. In English you can put a Noun immediately after expressions like these: I’d like… Have you got…? I’ll have……? sweets lemonade chicken potatoes beer In French, you must use one of du, de la, de l’ or des in front of the Noun.

20. Try these Je voudrais… Avez-vous…? Je prends… Y a-t-il…? … bonbons des bonbons … limonade de la limonade … pommes de terre des pommes de terre … céréales des céréales … café du café

21. Try these Je voudrais… Avez-vous…? Je prends… Y a-t-il…? … dessert du dessert … p âtes des pâtes … sucre du sucre … eau de l’ eau … oeufs des oeufs

22. 2. Any

23. In English, we change some to any after a negative Verb. I want some coffee I don’t want any coffee. He’s got some money He hasn’t got any money. I can see some one I can’t see any one.

24. Something similar happens in French after a negative Verb. du de la de l’ des all become de d’ before a vowel

25. Can you make these negative? Je veux du pain.

26. Can you make these negative? Je veux du pain. Je ne veux pas de pain.

27. Can you make these negative? Je prends de l’ eau.

28. Can you make these negative? Je prends de l’eau. Je ne prends pas d’ eau.

29. Can you make these negative? J’ai des fr ères.

30. Can you make these negative? J’ai des fr ères. Je n’ai pas de fr ères .

31. Can you answer these in the negative? Avez-vous du vin? Non, nous…

32. Can you answer these in the negative? Avez-vous du vin? Non, nous n’avons pas de vin.

33. Can you answer these in the negative? Voulez-vous des spaghettis? Non, merci, je…

34. Can you answer these in the negative? Voulez-vous des spaghettis? Non, merci, je ne veux pas de spaghettis.

35. Can you answer these in the negative? Veux-tu de l ’eau? Non, merci, je …

36. Can you answer these in the negative? Veux-tu de l ’eau? Non, merci, je ne veux pas d’ eau.

37. Can you answer these in the negative? Tu prends de la bi ère? Merci. Je ne prends …

38. Can you answer these in the negative? Tu prends de la bi ère? Merci. Je ne prends pas de bi ère.

39. Now try inventing some of your own

40. Summary You have learnt to say “some” and “any” using du, de la, de l’, des, de & d’ in simple sentences based on Verbs in the Present Tense

41. C’est tout ! © D J Ash 2001 There are more PowerPoint Presentations on the KES Modern Languages Website www.keslanguages.com