Chapter 12.1 de/des

Salut encore, 

Chapter 12.1 highlighted my issues with “de", as in the writing task, I kept getting it wrong ("de" when “des” was needed and vice versa).

I am clear on “beaucoup de” - always “de”: beaucoup de coutumes / beaucoup de vin.

But then again with “la plupart” it changes: “la plupart des coutumes" / "la plupart de la journee”. 

With “quel type de” it doesn't change. 

Is there a general rule I can follow? Or do we need to learn each expression individually?

Merci beaucoup!

Bonjour Desi2020,

There are general rules which apply to four types of constructions:

1. partitive and indefinite articles
2. quantities, adjectives and prepositional phrases
3. descriptive de vs. possessive de
4. verbs and expressions followed by de

There are too many instances to lay out all at once here, however if you are looking for some categories to compartmentalise the the rules for de vs. du, de la, des, then this would be a good start. I'm sorry there is no silver bullet here, but I hope at least these categories will give you somewhat of a framework.

I hope this helps!

Mitchell