The preposition de is generally summarized as "of, from, or about," but it has quite a few more meanings and uses than that. When de is followed by the definite article le or les, the two words must contract. However, de does not contract with the direct objects le and les. J'ai promis de le faire - I promised to do it. Related lessons
article indéfini (un , une , des) article partitif (du, de la, de l') préposition (de) + article défini (le, la, l', les) préposition (de) + article indéfini (un , une , des) préposition (de) + article partitif (du, de la, de l') 7. Nous avons parlé des examens d'hier.
The use of "de" / "du" depends on whether "personnel" is definite or not. In our case, it isn't so one must use "du". If "personnel" is definite, "de" should be used as in: une compression de personnel de la comptabilité.
When you are talking about a portion of one item (food, like "some bread"), or something that cannot be quantified (quality, like "some patience"), use what the French call "a partitive article." du (+ masculine word) de la (+ feminine word) de l' - (followed by a vowel)
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