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After verbs in the negative form, the articles un, une, des, du, de la, and de l’(a, some) are replaced by de (or d’ if followed by a word beginning with a vowel or silent h-).
Consider the following examples:
| Je bois du vin. |
I drink (some) wine. |
| Je ne bois pas de vin. |
I do not drink (any) wine. |
| J’ai une voiture. |
I have a car. |
| Je n’ai pas de voiture. |
I do not have a car. |
| Il y a des hôtels. |
There are (some) hotels. |
| Il n’y a pas d’hôtels. |
There are no (aren't any) hotels. |
| Je mange un sandwich. |
I eat a sandwich. |
| Je ne mange pas de sandwich. |
I do not eat a sandwich. |
Although this rule holds generally true, there are some exceptions. After être the indefinite article is retained.
| C'est une fille de M. Leclerc, n'est-ce pas? |
| It's a daughter of Mr. Leclerc, right? |
| Non, ce n'est pas une fille de M. Leclerc. |
| No, it's not a daughter of Mr. Leclerc. |
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