I just read the following in one of my books: "Je suis importateur d'objets d'art de France et du Maroc."
I am wondering why it is "du Maroc" but not "de la France".
Thank you for your explanation.
The way it is used here is to show that the "art pieces" were made in either France or Maroc
But why does it use DE France (without the article) but DU Maroc?
I understand your question. It has to do with the countries that require definite articles:
Feminine Countries, Continents, Provinces
l'Algérie = Algeria
l'Allemagne, Germany
l'Angleterre = England
l'Argentine = Argentina
l 'Autriche - Austria
la Belgique - Gelgium
la Chine = China
l'Ecosse = Scotland
l'Espagne = Spain
la France = France
la Grande-Bretagne = Great Britain
la Hongrie = Hungary
l 'Inde = India
l'Irlande = Ireland
l 'Italie = Italy
la Norvège = Norway
la Pologne = Poland
la Roumanie = Rumania
la Russie = Russia
la Swède = Sweden
la Suisse = Switzerland
la Tunisie = Tunisia
;a Turquie Turkey
l'Afrique = Africa
l'Amérique = America
l 'Amérique du Nord = North America
l'Amérique du Sud = South America
l'Asie = Asia
l'Australie = Australia
l'Europe = Europe
l'Alsace = Alsace
la Bourgogne = Burgundy
la Bretagne = Brittany
la Champagne = Champagne
la Corse = Corsica
la Flandre = Flander
la Lorraine = Lorraine
la Normandie = Normandy
la Provence = Provence
Masculine Countries
le Brésil = Brazil
le Canada = Canada
le Chili = Chile
le Danemark = Denmark
les Etats-Unis = the United States
le Japon = Japan
le Maroc = Morocco
le Mexique = Mexico
le Pakistan = Pakistan
les Pays-Bas = the Netherlands
le Pérou = Peru
le Portugal = Portugal
Mountains and Waterways
les Alpes (f.) = the Alps
le Jura = the Jura Mountains
les Pyrénées (f.) = the Pyrenees
les Vosges (f.) = the Vosges Mountains
le mont Blanc = Mount Blanc
la Garonne = the Garonne River
la Loire = the Loire
le Rhin = the Rhine
le Rhône = the Rh one
la Seine = the Seine
la Manche = the English Channel
la mer Méditerranée = the Mediterranean Sea
Cities:
le Havre = Havre
la Nouvelle-Orléans = New Orleans
Sra (aka Mme)
P.S. To finish answering your question, with à + any definite article = à la, à l' au , aux AND with de = de la, de l', du, des
Because "France" uses no article = de France but because it is "le Maroc" it must be "du Maroc.
Sra (aka Mme)
Thank you very much for the explanation.I didn't realize that "France" uses no article; I thought it was "la France" and "le Maroc".
Merci encore une fois!!
Thank you also so very much for all the above information as to the gender of the countries, mountains and waterways.
I truly appreciate all your help!!!
In French, the preposition "de" can have different forms depending on the gender and number of the noun it precedes.
In the sentence "Je suis importateur d'objets d'art de France et du Maroc", "d'objets d'art de France" means "of art objects from France" and "du Maroc" means "of/from Morocco".
The reason why "de" transforms into "du" before "Maroc" is because "Maroc" is a masculine singular noun. In French, when "de" is followed by a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant sound, it contracts with the definite article "le" to form "du".
On the other hand, "d'objets d'art de France" does not contract because "France" starts with a vowel sound. In this case, "de" remains unchanged and is followed by the contracted form of the definite article "les", which is "d'".
So, by using "du Maroc" and "d'objets d'art de France", the author is expressing that they import art objects from France and from Morocco.