Les définis ne bougent jamais

Unité GR-03 · campagne 2 · la série que rien ne réduit.

The article system under negation has exactly two behaviours, and by now you have met both edges of the first. Here is the full map: only the indefinite/partitive series (un, une, des, du, de la) reduces to de. The definite series — le, la, l', les — never moves. Not under pas, not under jamais, not under plus:

• Je n'aime pas le café.
• Elle ne supporte pas le bruit des travaux.
• Il ne connaît pas la réponse.

The minimal pair that locks the whole system in place is two sentences apart:

1. Je ne bois pas de café. — boire du café: partitive, so negation reduces it.
2. Je n'aime pas le café. — aimer le café: definite (coffee as a category), so negation leaves it alone.

Same noun, same negation — the article you started with decides everything. So the practical reflex is: before writing the negative sentence, recover the affirmative one. If it contained du / de la / des / un / une, write de. If it contained le / la / les, copy it through untouched. The items below make you run that recovery step on verbs of both families.

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