Do native speakers of French generally use "du/de la" when thinking of nouns like eau, sel, etc?

Question

This is sort of a question about the extent to which French speakers associate partitive articles with nouns that use them.If you ask for water at a restaurant, you might say "De l'eau, s'il vous plait."But if you were wandering through a desert, dying of thirst, as a French speaker, would the words running over and over through your mind be:> eau....eau....eau....or:> de l'eau....de l'eau....de l'eau...As an English speaker, of course I would just be thinking *water....water....water...* Not *some water....some water....some water...*What I mean to ask is, are those partitive articles only necessary in communication, or are they tied to those nouns in your fragmentary thoughts as well?I know it's an odd question, but it informs my understanding of how those articles are used.

Answer 1

We say de l’eau when referring to an undefined quantity. For example:

Je voudrais de l’eau fraîche. In English it will be ; I’d like some cold water (We don’t know how much water)

Il y a de l’eau ? Is there any water?

Answer 2

Your question is not easy to answer but I will try my best.

Since language and thoughts are closely related, native French speakers use the partitive form even when they are just thinking, without a communication intent.

And personally, if I imagine myself lost in a desert, the thought running in my head would probably be "de l'eau, de l'eau..." and not "eau, eau..." which sounds weird.

I hope this helps you understand the French language better :)