28.4: Part 1: 3 NP: PROPER NOUNS (NOMS PROPRES)
- Page ID
- 151041
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3 NP: PROPER NOUNS (NOMS PROPRES)
A proper noun (name of a particular person or place—always capitalized in English, usually capitalized in French) is a full noun phrase all by itself. As in English, proper nouns in French most often occur without an article or limiting adjective.
Examples
| Cocteau a écrit des pièces et des romans. | Cocteau wrote plays and novels. |
| Nous allons visiter Paris. | We're going to visit Paris. |
However, a determiner (usually the definite article) may be used, either because it is part of the name, as in Le Havre, or because it is needed to distinguish two or more individuals of the same name, as in:
| Le Jean Cocteau dont je parle était un écrivain, pas un boulanger. | The Cocteau that I'm talking about was a writer, not a baker. |
Unlike English, French includes the definite article with names of countries in certain contexts (see also Section 15.1).
| Je visite la France. | I am visiting France. |
| L'Espagne est un beau pays. | Spain is a beautiful country. |