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# des

«des» in Mova's school dictionary: **«some» before a plural noun: «des pommes» is «some apples»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

article and preposition (French «des» = some / of the); name (Des, short for Desmond) — not an English word

### meaning for a pupil

1) (French) «Des» means «some» before a plural noun: «des pommes» is «some apples». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#m1)

2) (French) «Des» also means «of the» or «from the» for plural things: «la maison des enfants» is «the children's house». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#m2)

3) (a name) Des is a short form of the man's name Desmond. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#m3)

4) To an English ear French «des» sounds like «day». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#m4)

5) In old Southern speech, des means just or simply. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In French lessons «des» is learnt with «du» and «de la» (some): «je voudrais des frites» (I would like some chips). It appears in French place names and phrases English borrows: «Champs-Élysées», «Jardin des Plantes». In Ireland and the UK «Des» is a familiar nickname. Also «des res» (UK, informal, jokey) means a «desirable residence», a nice house.

### examples

- In French, «j'ai des bonbons» means «I have some sweets». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x1)
- «Le jardin des plantes» means «the garden of the plants». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x2)
- «Des» sounds like «day» in French. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x3)
- My uncle Des runs the corner shop. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x4)
- In French, «un chat» is «a cat», and «des chats» is «some cats». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x5)
- Mum joked that the new house was a real «des res». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x6)
- Hit's des like I tell you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/#x7)

### note

As a word, French, not English; the «s» is silent unless the next word starts with a vowel («des amis» sounds like «day-zah-mee»). In English «des-» at the start of a word is a prefix, as in «describe». As a name it takes a capital: «Des».

### In the corpora

- [marron (brown) and orange never change, not even in the plural: des chaussures marron (brown shoes).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/9-colours/10/)
- [Il fait un temps de chien ! means the weather is awful; Il pleut des cordes ! means it's pouring.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/13-weather-and-seasons/15/)
- [une veste is a jacket and des baskets are trainers; both are false friends.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/17-clothes/9/)
- [des chaussures noires means black shoes: the noun takes s and the colour takes e (feminine) and s (plural).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/17-clothes/12/)
- [des frites are chips (French fries) and des chips are crisps.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/18-food-and-drink/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «des» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/des/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.