French Grammar: French Preposition (de)

Definition: De is a very important and versatile preposition with many different meanings and uses in French. As a preposition, it can express or indicate all of the following:

Possession or belonging
le livre de Carlos Carlos's book
la bibliothèque de l'université the university library
Starting point or origin
partir de Nice to leave from (out of) Nice
Je suis de Bruxelles I'm from Brussels
Contents / description of something
une tasse de thé cup of tea
un roman d'amour love story (story of/about love)
Defining feature
le marché de gros wholesale market
une salle de classe classroom
Cause
mourir de faim to die of / from hunger
fatigué du voyage tired from the trip
Means / manner of doing something
écrire de la main gauche
to write with one's left hand
répéter de mémoire
to recite from memory