The French preposition de is notorious for giving French learners difficulty at all levels. Why? Because this simple preposition, which generally means “of, from, or about,” can change greatly depending on the word it precedes. De can also be used in many different ways, which also changes the rules regarding its use. Let’s take a look.

De is the most common preposition in French—and it can be used in many different ways. Here are some of the most common ways in which it is used:

1. to signify possession (the English equivalent of “of”)
2. to express a certain direction or relation (“from” or “by”)
3. to coordinate between two verbs (“of” or “to”)

De can also be used as an article to express a quantity of something. Somewhat relatedly, de can be used in expressions of quantity, which carry different rules for how de does or not change before a word. We will go over these uses in a post on de and quantities next week.

Let’s return to the three uses of de as a preposition.

The usage of de to signify possession, direction, and relation is simple enough. De does not change when it comes before a proper noun. For example, c’est le livre de Marie (It’s Marie’s book.) Because de precedes the proper noun Marie, it does not change form at all. It’s the same thing for a preposition of relation/direction, as in the following case: Brice vient de Nice (Brice comes from Nice). Because Nice is a proper noun, de does not change.

However, if de precedes a regular noun it will change based on the gender of that noun. For example, c’est le cuisinier du restaurant (It’s the chef  of the restaurant). Because restaurant is masculine, the de changes to du. If, however, the noun is feminine, the de will change to de la. For example, elle vient de partir de la maison. (She just came from the house). Because maison is feminine, de becomes de la. Finally, if the word that follows de begins with a vowel, it will become de l’. For example, c’est le chef de l’entreprise. (He’s the boss of the company.)

Got it?

Coordinating between two verbs works a bit differently—although it is even more simple. De will not change when coordinating between two verbs. For example, elle essaie de le faire (she is trying to do it). Don’t get confused by seeing de next to le. They are not connected and it is not related to de la at all. Rather, le precedes the verb faire and means “it,” which is separate from de. This becomes clearer when the sentence is phrased in a different way: Elle essaie de faire du sport (she is trying to play sports/work out). In this case, the le (“it”) is specified as faire du sport (“playing sports/working out”). Notice how de is used twice in this sentence in different ways—and how it takes on different forms.

Check back next week to explore other forms of this tricky preposition!