1.13: Structure - Articles définis et indéfinis
- Page ID
- 157791
In this section, you will learn about:
- Definite articles (le, la, l', les)
- Indefinite articles (un, une, des)
- Gender and number agreement
Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.
On étudie !
Articles in English such as "a, an, some" (indefinite articles) or "the" (definite articles) introduce nouns and must be placed before them. In French, articles are also place before nouns and must agree with the gender and number of the nouns modified. There are two types of articles: "definite articles" (articles définis) and "indefinite articles" (articles indéfinis).
- Articles indéfinis (un, une, des) refer to nouns that are non-specific or when counting the quantity 1 (un, une). In negative sentences (ne...pas), all indefinite articles are changed to de, d'.
| Genre | Singulier | Pluriel (a, an) |
|---|---|---|
| Masculin | un (a, an) | des (Ø, some) |
| Féminin | une (a, an) | des (Ø, some) |
- Articles définis (le, la, l', les) refer to nouns that are specific from prior knowledge in the discussion, general statements such as preferences when using verbs of appreciation (aimer, adorer, apprécier, préférer, détester). In negative sentences (ne..pas), all definite articles remain (no changes).
| Genre | Singulier | Pluriel (a, an) |
|---|---|---|
| Masculin | le, l' (the) | les (the) |
| Féminin | la, l' (the) | les (the) |
The articles le and la become l' before words that begin with a vowel or a silent h. For example: l'étudiant, l'avenue, l'île, l'université, l'hôpital, l'homme.
These are called élisions. An elision is a type of contraction that occurs when two words are combined: one or more letters are dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. In English, elisions like "I'm" and "can't" are optional and indicate informality.
With plural nouns, the articles must also be plural in order to agree with them.
Most plural nouns in French end in -s: un/le stylo => des/les stylos ou une/la table => les/les tables. There are also some irregular plurals such as -x: un/le tableau => des/les tableaux.
- In English, you usually don't use a plural indefinite article (like "some"). Instead we just say the plural noun without an article: thus, "a shoe" simply becomes "shoes".
- Notice how the gender (masculine, feminine) distinction seems to have disappeared with these plural articles (les, des). However, the nouns have not lost their gender, and any other adjectives that are added to them must still agree with them in gender.
(Since each noun is either masculine or feminine (gender) and singular or plural (number), all adjectives used to describe — or modify how we understand — these nouns must agree with the gender and number of the nouns. For example:
| Singulier | Pluriel |
|---|---|
| un chapeau noir | des chapeaux noirs |
| une robe bleue | des robes bleues |
| le chapeau blanc | les chapeaux blancs |
| la chaussure rouge | les chaussures rouges |
| l'imperméable jaune | les imperméables jaunes |
In spoken French, we don't hear the plural -s so we rely on other sounds to determine if it's plural or singular. For example, compare the pronunciation of the singular le to the plural les.
On approfondit ! (Practice only-not graded)
Use the following resources to type accents and/or search for words:
- Accents: ç, à, é, è, â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ë, ï, ü
- Dictionnaire français-anglais