LECTIO BREVIS FRENCH COURSE: FRENCH ARTICLES
FRENCH ARTICLES
French has three articles: the definite article, the indefinite article and the partitive article. They agree with nouns in gender and number. In general, they are used in a similar way to English articles, but there are several important differences.
1.1 Forms
Definite masculine singular : le (l’) feminine singular : la, l' plural: les
Indefinite masculine singular : un. feminine singular : une plural: des
Partitive Masculine singular: de l’, du feminine: de la (de l’) Plural des
2 The definite article The definite articles are le, la, les ‘the’. Contracted forms are used when the prepositions de ‘of, from’ or à ‘to’ (and sometimes ‘from’: emprunter à ‘to borrow from’) precede the articles le, les: de+le>du, de+les>des, à+le>au, à +les>aux.
C’est le livre du professeur. It’s the teacher’s book. Ce sont les copies des étudiants. They are the students’ papers.
English frequently uses’s (singular) or s’ (plural) to indicate possession, rather than ‘of the’. It would sound odd to say: ‘It is the book of the teacher’.
Elle parle au président. She is speaking to the president
Nous avons donné les billets aux enfants.
We have given the tickets to the children.
But there is no change when de or à precede la or l’:
La porte de l’école est fermée. The school door is shut. Elle va à la maison. She is going home.
2.1 Contracted forms When they precede words beginning with a vowel or a mute h, le and la are shortened to l’:
l’issue the exit l’accident the accident l’histoire history, the story l’homme man, the man
NOTE The articles are not necessarily translated into English.
2.2 Place of the article The article precedes nouns, and adjectives which precede nouns:
la petite table the little table le grand garçon the big boy
but note that they follow tout, tous, toute(s) ‘all, every, the whole’ (see 11.1):
tout le vin all the wine toute la famille the whole family tout l’argent all the money toutes les filles all the girls tous les mois every month
2.3 How the definite articles are used The definite article refers to specific people or things:
Le livre est sur la table. The book is on the table.
In lists of nouns, the article is usually repeated before each noun:
Il aime les chats, les chiens et les chevaux. He likes cats, dogs and horses.
but increasingly today, in written French, the article is omitted from lists:
Chats, chiens, chevaux, il les aime tous.
Cats, dogs and horses—he loves them all.
2.4 Differences between French and English articles In certain contexts French and English articles are used differently.
(a) where the noun is used in a general sense:
L’herbe est verte. Grass is green. Aime-t-il le vin? Does he like wine? Elle aime la musique. She loves music. Les ordinateurs deviennent Computers are becoming less de moins en moins chers. and less expensive.
(b) with parts of the body, or mind, where English uses the possessive adjective (‘my, your…’) French uses the definite article :
Il secoua la tête. He shook his head. Ouvre les yeux. Open your eyes. Il a froid aux pieds. He has cold feet. Elle a mal à la tête. She has a headache. Elle a perdu la mémoire. She has lost her memory. Il souffre du dos. He has back problems.
and with reflexive verbs referring to the owner:
Elle s’est lavé les cheveux. She washed her hair.
When something is done to someone else, that other person is indicated by including an indirect object pronoun :
Elle lui a saisi la main. She took his/her hand. Elle lui a lavé les cheveux. She washed his/her hair.
The definite article is also used with parts of the body in description following avoir:
Le bébé a les mains dodues. The baby has chubby hands. Elle a les cheveux longs. She has long hair.
Note the use of the possessive adjective mon, ton…‘my, your…’ with verbs other than avoir:
Il caressa sa longue barbe noire. He stroked his long black beard.
And note the following descriptive phrases where English uses ‘with’ :
la femme aux yeux verts the woman with the green eyes
la maison aux fenêtres ouvertes the house with the open windows
Il marchait les mains derrière He was walking with his hands le dos. behind his back.
French normally uses the singular form of nouns if they refer to something of which we have only one, e.g. la vie ‘life’, la tête ‘head/face’, le cou ‘neck’:
Elle leur a sauvé la vie. She saved their lives.
(c) in many expressions of time, and with seasons, dates and festivals :
à trois heures du matin/de at three in the morning/ l’après-midi afternoon II arrivera vers les sept heures. He’ll arrive about seven o’clock. Elle le fera pendant la semaine. She will do it during the week.
Note the English equivalent with the use or omission of the articles:
la semaine dernière/prochaine last/next week
au jour le jour from day to day
Elle travaille le matin. She works in the morning(s).
Ils viennent le jour. They come during the day.
tous les vendredis every Friday
toutes les semaines every week
tous les deux jours every second/other day
French has three articles: the definite article, the indefinite article and the partitive article. They agree with nouns in gender and number. In general, they are used in a similar way to English articles, but there are several important differences.
1.1 Forms
Definite masculine singular : le (l’) feminine singular : la, l' plural: les
Indefinite masculine singular : un. feminine singular : une plural: des
Partitive Masculine singular: de l’, du feminine: de la (de l’) Plural des
2 The definite article The definite articles are le, la, les ‘the’. Contracted forms are used when the prepositions de ‘of, from’ or à ‘to’ (and sometimes ‘from’: emprunter à ‘to borrow from’) precede the articles le, les: de+le>du, de+les>des, à+le>au, à +les>aux.
C’est le livre du professeur. It’s the teacher’s book. Ce sont les copies des étudiants. They are the students’ papers.
English frequently uses’s (singular) or s’ (plural) to indicate possession, rather than ‘of the’. It would sound odd to say: ‘It is the book of the teacher’.
Elle parle au président. She is speaking to the president
Nous avons donné les billets aux enfants.
We have given the tickets to the children.
But there is no change when de or à precede la or l’:
La porte de l’école est fermée. The school door is shut. Elle va à la maison. She is going home.
2.1 Contracted forms When they precede words beginning with a vowel or a mute h, le and la are shortened to l’:
l’issue the exit l’accident the accident l’histoire history, the story l’homme man, the man
NOTE The articles are not necessarily translated into English.
2.2 Place of the article The article precedes nouns, and adjectives which precede nouns:
la petite table the little table le grand garçon the big boy
but note that they follow tout, tous, toute(s) ‘all, every, the whole’ (see 11.1):
tout le vin all the wine toute la famille the whole family tout l’argent all the money toutes les filles all the girls tous les mois every month
2.3 How the definite articles are used The definite article refers to specific people or things:
Le livre est sur la table. The book is on the table.
In lists of nouns, the article is usually repeated before each noun:
Il aime les chats, les chiens et les chevaux. He likes cats, dogs and horses.
but increasingly today, in written French, the article is omitted from lists:
Chats, chiens, chevaux, il les aime tous.
Cats, dogs and horses—he loves them all.
2.4 Differences between French and English articles In certain contexts French and English articles are used differently.
(a) where the noun is used in a general sense:
L’herbe est verte. Grass is green. Aime-t-il le vin? Does he like wine? Elle aime la musique. She loves music. Les ordinateurs deviennent Computers are becoming less de moins en moins chers. and less expensive.
(b) with parts of the body, or mind, where English uses the possessive adjective (‘my, your…’) French uses the definite article :
Il secoua la tête. He shook his head. Ouvre les yeux. Open your eyes. Il a froid aux pieds. He has cold feet. Elle a mal à la tête. She has a headache. Elle a perdu la mémoire. She has lost her memory. Il souffre du dos. He has back problems.
and with reflexive verbs referring to the owner:
Elle s’est lavé les cheveux. She washed her hair.
When something is done to someone else, that other person is indicated by including an indirect object pronoun :
Elle lui a saisi la main. She took his/her hand. Elle lui a lavé les cheveux. She washed his/her hair.
The definite article is also used with parts of the body in description following avoir:
Le bébé a les mains dodues. The baby has chubby hands. Elle a les cheveux longs. She has long hair.
Note the use of the possessive adjective mon, ton…‘my, your…’ with verbs other than avoir:
Il caressa sa longue barbe noire. He stroked his long black beard.
And note the following descriptive phrases where English uses ‘with’ :
la femme aux yeux verts the woman with the green eyes
la maison aux fenêtres ouvertes the house with the open windows
Il marchait les mains derrière He was walking with his hands le dos. behind his back.
French normally uses the singular form of nouns if they refer to something of which we have only one, e.g. la vie ‘life’, la tête ‘head/face’, le cou ‘neck’:
Elle leur a sauvé la vie. She saved their lives.
(c) in many expressions of time, and with seasons, dates and festivals :
à trois heures du matin/de at three in the morning/ l’après-midi afternoon II arrivera vers les sept heures. He’ll arrive about seven o’clock. Elle le fera pendant la semaine. She will do it during the week.
Note the English equivalent with the use or omission of the articles:
la semaine dernière/prochaine last/next week
au jour le jour from day to day
Elle travaille le matin. She works in the morning(s).
Ils viennent le jour. They come during the day.
tous les vendredis every Friday
toutes les semaines every week
tous les deux jours every second/other day
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