Why does Claire say "D'ordinaire nous ne vendons pas de bouteilles non ouvertes" Shouldn't it be "des"?

In a subsequent conversation there seems to be an anomaly where "de" and "des" appear to be used in identical circumstances;- Claire - Nous avons de charmants tableaux par ici. Paul - Est-ce que vous avez des pantoufles? I don't suppose that both can be right but I would be very interested to find out how the circumstances differ if they are both right. Andy

I was taught that if in the negative using ne / pas you always use "de" afterward, never "des". I learned this in a french class.

Salut! Great question! Keep 'em coming! The reason we transform "des" into "de" is because there is extra information about the noun. For example: un tableau (a painting) - des tableaux (paintings) un _beau_ tableau (a beautiful painting) - de _beaux_ tableaux (beautiful paintings) As soon as something comes between the indefinite article plural (des) and the noun, "des" becomes "de". "Des" also becomes "de" in the negative form of a sentence. For example: J'ai des chevaux (I have horses) - Je n'ai pas de chevaux (I don't have horses). I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, let me know! :D

I need to know when to add les and des to a sentence.

Salut Jackie, This is something that doesn't really have a particular rule - it goes with the context of a sentence. The best way to learn this is by going through the course and learning about these as you go bit-by-bit. If you have a specific sentence in mind, please let me know! Maire-Claire