de
/də/
The French phrase de.
The word de is used in several common expressions. For instance, Merci de means 'Thank you for', Avoir besoin de means 'To need' and Être sûr de means 'To be sure of'. It is also used in the phrase Il est temps de to mean 'It's time to', and in the expression C'est le début de la fin which means 'It's the beginning of the end'.
How do you pronounce it?
/də/
Did you know?
- In French noble surnames, the de is called a 'particle'. Historically, it indicated that a family owned the land or town mentioned after the particle, effectively acting as a title of ownership.
- The word de descends from the Latin dē, which originally meant 'down from' or 'away from'.
- In French, de is used to indicate a 'partitive' quantity, meaning 'some' of something. For example, Je veux du pain uses du, which is a contraction of de and le, to mean 'I want some bread'.
Examples in context
- Je vis à Rio de Janeiro.I live in Rio de Janeiro.This sentence shows how to use de within the name of a city.Tatoeba #10514514 by felix63, translation #10304886 by Ricardo14
- Tom a remporté le Tour de France.Tom won the Tour de France.This sentence uses de as part of the name of a famous cycling race.Tatoeba #8730506 by Julien_PDC, translation #5993016 by Hybrid
- J'habite à Rio de Janeiro depuis quatre ans.I have been living in Rio de Janeiro for four years.This sentence demonstrates the use of de in the name of a city.Tatoeba #3658142 by THURET, translation #1864717 by gleydin
- Je viens de Paris.I come from Paris.
- Le livre de mon ami.My friend's book.
- La maison de ma grand-mère.My grandmother's house.
- Je prends du café.I'll have some coffee.
- Elle mange de la glace.She is eating ice cream.
- Nous avons des amis.We have friends.
- Le stylo de Pierre.Pierre's pen.
- La voiture de mon père.My father's car.
- La maison de notre famille.Our family's house.
- 31 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are discussing Hugo's job at a cafe.
- ChloéTu es le serveur de ce café ?Are you the waiter of this cafe?
- HugoOui, je travaille de huit heures à seize heures.Yes, I work from eight to four.
- ChloéC'est un travail difficile ?Is it a difficult job?
- HugoNon, c'est très agréable.No, it is very pleasant.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry de, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
