French Grammar Explained /
Prepositions - The "complément du nom"
Could you give me that glass please?
The empty one or the one filled with water?
Whichever, it's the same!
Actually, not in French...
Un verre de vin.
A glass of wine.
Un verre d'eau.
A glass of water.
When talking about content, the French language uses the preposition de to indicate the content inside the container.
Un verre à vin.
A wine glass.
Un verre à eau.
A water glass.
In turn, when the idea is to determine the type of container used, in French we use the preposition à to indicate it.
So... basically it means that un verre de vin is a glass of wine but un verre à vin is just an empty wine glass.
Oui, tout à fait ! So watch out what you order at a bar, or you might end up with a glass of wine... empty!
Haha, don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll remember this one!