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L’article Partitif
du (masculine)
de la (feminine)
De l’ (Before a noun beginning with a vowel or mute h sound)
De (negative construction)
Des (plural)
 
The partitive article is used to refer to an unknown quantity. It is often used
with food, drinks, and other uncountable things such as air. The closest
equivalent of a partitive article in English is the word “some” which is often
omitted. In French, the partitive article is necessary to create the correct
idea.
Example:
Avez-vous bu du café? (Did you drink some coffee?)
Elle a mangé de la salade hier. (She ate salad yesterday.)
When used in a negative construction, the article becomes “de”.
Example:
Il n’a pas mange de soupe. (He didn’t eat any soup.)
 
 
 
Examples from “Les Trois Petits Cochons”
Review the story’s title and phrases from section 2 below:
“Les Trois Petits Cochons”
“Comme le petit cochon avait dit”
“des murs en paille” 
“un plancher en paille”

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In these examples, we see that the definite articles used agree with the
gender and number of the nouns they present. “Les” is used for the plural
form “cochons” while “le” is used to present the singular masculine noun
“cochon.”
We also see indefinite articles used for the different parts of the house. 
“Des”, which is plural, is used for “murs” (walls). “Un”, which is singular,
is used with “plancher” (floor). Notice the difference in the number of
these two nouns. A house would generally have more than one wall, while
the floor refers to the entire ground area of the place.
Check the excerpt below from section 6:
“Le troisième petit cochon a décidé d'aller vers l'Ouest. Alors qu'il
marchait le long de la route, il a rencontré un fermier qui portait un
chargement de briques.”
In the text above, the article “l’” is used with “Ouest” (west). As covered
earlier, definite articles are used to refer to something that is known as
unique. There is only one “L’Ouest” hence the article that accompanies it.
Below are the other direction nouns that follow the same rule.
Le Nord
North
Le Sud
South
L’Est
East
We also see an article with the noun “fermier”. An indefinite article is used
as the noun is not specific. It could be a farmer from the same town or a
farmer traveling through. The same case applies to “chargement” (load). 
Both are singular nouns which are represented by the articles that were
used. Below are the plural forms of these nouns.
des fermiers (farmers)
des chargements (loads)
Check the phrases below from various sections of the story. 
“Des sandwichs au bacon”
“Du rôti de porc”

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“Des côtelettes de porc avec de la sauce barbecue et des haricots verts”
The examples above use partitive articles to indicate unquantifiable nouns. 
The articles also follow the gender and the number of the nouns they
accompany. The phrases do not specify how many sandwiches, roast pork
or porkchops the wolf is hungry for. And as covered earlier, this kind of
article is commonly used with food and drinks.