Lesson 1 -
Grammar 1 - Definite
articles: le, la, l', les.
The French definite article that corresponds to English 'the' has several shapes:
Singular
1. 'le' occurs in front of some French singular nouns that begin with a consonant:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
le restaurant | the restaurant |
le frère | the brother |
2. 'la' occurs in front of all other French singular nouns that begin with a consonant:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
la rue | the street |
la soeur | the sister |
These two shapes do not occur indiscriminately, i.e., 'connaissance' can be preceded only by 'la' and never by 'le' and 'restaurant' only by 'le' and never by 'la' .
This permits classification of all French nouns into two classes, called genders, which play a major role in French grammar. Although most nouns do not refer to sex at all, the two noun classes are traditionally labeled masculine for 'le' and feminine for 'la'.
3. l' occurs in front of French singular nouns that begin with a vowel and is pronounced as part of the first syllable of those nouns:
French / Français | Pronunciation | English / Anglais |
---|---|---|
l'ami | (la-mi) | the friend |
l'enfant | (len-fant) | the child |
This does not mean that a noun that begins with a vowel is neither masculine nor feminine, but simply that there is no distinctive mark of gender present in the definite article preceding it.
Plural
'les' occurs in front of French plural nouns:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
les parents | the parents |
les amis | the friends |
Remember: When 'les' is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel, the s of 'les' is pronounced like a z at the beginning of that word.
Synthesis:
Number | Gender | Before a noun beginning with a consonant | Before a noun beginning with a vowel |
---|---|---|---|
Singular |
Masculine | le | l’ |
Feminine | la | l' | |
Plural |
Masculine
and feminine |
les | |
Examples:
Singular | Plural |
---|---|
Voilà la porte. | Voilà les portes. |
Voilà la classe. | Voilà les classes. |
Voilà le livre. | Voilà les livres. |
Voilà le restaurant. | Voilà les restaurants. |
Voilà l'ami. | Voilà les amis. |
Voilà l'enfant. | Voilà les enfants. |