De, Du or Des
The Article défini contracté is one of the fundamentals to write in French, although it's not complicated to learn.
preposition DE + article défini
DE + LE = DU
beaucoup de qch / c'est le lait de sa vache.
Il boit beaucoup du lait de sa vache.
DE + LA = DE LA
DE + L' = DE L'
les clés de qch / c'est la voiture verte.
les clés de la voiture verte.
DE + LES = DES
les jeux de qn / ce sont les enfants de Luc.
les jeux des enfants de Luc.
qch = quelque chose , qn = quelqu'un
2 Comments
"although it's not complicated to learn."
Maybe I'm an outlier but for me it was definitely hard to learn because of the exceptions, like not using 'des' with plurals after a negative or special cases like "adverbs of quantity" etc.
Students who thinks it's easy should take the test here on About French ... http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/de-vs-du-de-la-des.htm Laura K. has five pages of explanations about this topic :)
Even if it's not really that easy, the fact of saying it is not hard makes it easier to learn I guess!
Got 100% in that test though but I find it sort of advanced, I think this one is easier and more adequate http://www.lepointdufle.net/ressources_fle/articles_de_du2.htm#.U9_uL_l5MuM
