What You Like Eating and Why French Uses du, de la, des

Talking About Food in French

Let’s begin with real examples of how to say what you like eating in French. Then we’ll unpack the grammar behind those little words like du, de la, and des.

Sentence Builder
Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ? What do you like eating?
Who likes it?
J’aime I like
Il aime He likes
Elle aime She likes
Verb
manger eating / to eat
du
du pain some bread
du gâteau some cake
du fromage some cheese
de la
de la pizza some pizza
de la salade some salad
de la glace some ice cream
des
des biscuits some biscuits
des frites some chips / fries
du Use with masculine singular foods. du pain
de la Use with feminine singular foods. de la salade
des Use with plural foods. des frites

Why French Uses du, de la, des

In English, we often drop the word some when talking about food:
→ I like eating bread = I like eating some bread

But in French, you must include a partitive article to show that you’re talking about an unspecified quantity, not the whole thing.

How It Works

Article
Used With
Example
Meaning
du
masculine singular nouns
du pain
some bread
de la
feminine singular nouns
de la glace
some ice cream
de l’
nouns starting with a vowel or silent h
de l’eau
some water
des
plural nouns
des frites
some chips / fries

Grammar tip:

  • de le → contracts to du
  • de les → contracts to des
  • de la and de l’ stay the same

What About “J’aime la glace” vs. “J’aime manger de la glace”?

Both are correct—but they mean slightly different things:

  • J’aime la glace = I like ice cream
  • J’aime manger de la glace = I like eating (some) ice cream

Exercise: What Do You Like Eating?

Exercise: What Do You Like Eating? Translate each sentence into French. Think of your answer first, then reveal the model answer.
Question 1
Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ? Say: “I like to eat cheese.”
J’aime manger du fromage.
Question 2
Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ? Say: “I like to eat salad.”
J’aime manger de la salade.
Question 3
Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ? Say: “I like to eat chips and pizza.”
J’aime manger des frites et de la pizza.
Question 4
Qu’est-ce qu’il aime manger ? Say: “He likes to eat chocolate.”
Il aime manger du chocolat.
Question 5
Qu’est-ce qu’elle aime manger ? Say: “She likes to eat biscuits.”
Elle aime manger des biscuits.