Okay, srs question cos duolingo doesn't explain this at all.
Why is du sometimes used before a noun and not other times?
Like "We are eating chicken" doesn't have an article, but I have to use du anyway?
@spiderrobotpig actually, "du" is for masculin, and "de la" would be the feminim form.
This is use for indeterminate (undisclosed) quantity you are consuming.
je mange du chocolat.
je mange 100g de chocolat.
@spiderrobotpig
Je mange du poulet
could be for a forkful or a plateful.
Je mange une cuisse de poulet
(cuisse = thigh) is exactly one thigh/drumstick.
@Bigkafka That is so weird to my English speaking brain.
And even weirder to my Japanese speaking brain.
@spiderrobotpig well, du = "de le", vs. de la.
de is a bit like 'of'.
a quantity of ...
@Bigkafka I'm really glad you're helping me with this, because despite all of the good of Duolingo, it does jack shit for explaining the grammar rules
@spiderrobotpig @Bigkafka Might be useful to think of it as a bit like "some" in English? "We are eating (some) chicken."
@benhamill @Bigkafka Yeah, that's what I've been hearing and that it going to help a lot :3