French Conversation · Level 2
83 words
French word
de
Pronunciation
IPA/də/
Meaning
- prepositionof
Example
C'est le livre de Marie.
It is Marie's book.
More examples
Je viens de Paris.
I come from Paris.
Core concept
A link that leads outward from a person, place, thing, or subject.
Common phrases
venir de
come from
parler de
talk about
avoir besoin de
need
Similar words
à: Indicates movement toward a destination, place, or person.
en: Shows being inside a place, area, or state.
chez: Indicates being at a person's home, business, or workplace.
sans: Shows that something is absent or unavailable.
Definition in French
Indique la provenance, la possession ou le thème, et servant de base aux formes contractées et partitifs du français.
Word origin
French de comes from Latin de through Old French and remains a basic preposition, while article combinations later produced forms such as du and des.
Usage tips
- In negation, a partitive or indefinite du, de la, de l', or des usually becomes de or d', but a definite du or des remains unchanged.
Other meanings
- frompreposition
- aboutpreposition