Bons moments

Question

I was taught that adjectives that precede the noun are used with a 'de' and not 'des'. Why is there a difference in the usage of 'des bons moments' and 'de bons souvenirs'?Thanks

Accepted Answer

Hi Perina,
It all depends on the verb used and whether the 'de' is a preposition + les or a partitive 'des'.
1.  remembering the good moments 
we have

... en se souvenant des bons moments 
... en se rappelant des/les bons moments

as both verbs se souvenir de /se rappeler de quelque chose are followed by the preposition de
de + les = des
and it doesn't change before the preceding adjective.
2. reminiscing about nice shared memories
The verb 'se remémorer quelque chose ' is used which doesn't have a preposition afterward so 
des ---> de before preceding adjective bons
as it is a partitive 'some' .
Of course you could also say 
se remémorer les bons souvenirs partagés
Here is a reminder of the Kwiziq lesson -
Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)
Hope this helps!

Answer

Hi Perina,"des bons moments" suggests to me that by retaining "des"  before the adjective, the plural definite article is being employed with preposition "de" plus "les" --> "des". In this situation, the "des" does not contract to "de" before the adjective.With "de bons souvenirs"  this suggests that the plural indefinite article is being used and in this case, this plural article does contract to "de" before the adjective.Hope this helps.Jim