Partitive Articles
Used when wanting to talk about a piece of something.
These are the equivalent to using "some" in the English language.
There are four different types of partitive articles to use for different nouns. There is one for masculine (du), one for feminine (de la), one for masculine or feminine nouns that start with a vowel (de l'), and one for plural nouns (des).
When Do I Use Partitive Articles?
If your mom asked you if you want some carrots with your dinner, you would not reply with, "Yes I would like a carrot.", you would say, "Yes I would like some carrots.". The first response in french would look like: Ouí, Je voudrais une carotte. While the second sentence would look like: Ouí, Je voudrais des carottes.
Examples
Masculine Example-
English: "I ate one cake."
French: "J'ai mange un gâteau."
English: "I ate some cake."
French: "J'ai mange du gâteau."
Feminine Example-
English: "I ate a pie."French: "J'ai mangé une tarte."
English: "I ate some pie."
French: "J'ai mangé de la tarte."
What About Negative Sentences?
When using negative sentences, you only use "de" never du, de la, de l', or des.
Example: Je ne mange pas de bain. (I don't eat bread.)