A1
le, la, les, un, une, des
The French definite and indefinite articles, how they change with gender and number, and why French needs one where English leaves it out.
French has two sets of articles, and both change with the noun’s gender and number.
| masculine | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| definite | le | la | les |
| indefinite | un | une | des |
un livre / le livre
a book / the book
a book / the book
une table / la table
a table / the table
a table / the table
des is the plural of un
English has no plural of a, so it simply drops the article. French cannot.
J’ai des amis à Paris.
I-have some friends in Paris
I have friends in Paris.
J’ai amis à Paris.
J’ai des amis à Paris.
A French noun almost never stands bare. Where English says friends, French says des amis.
le and la become l’
Before a vowel or a silent h, both elide.
l’ami, l’eau, l’hôtel
the-friend, the-water, the-hotel
the friend, the water, the hotel
Les does not elide, but it links: les amis is said lay-zami.
French uses the definite article for generalities
Talking about something in general takes le, la or les where English uses no article at all. This is one of the commonest places English speakers leave a gap.
J’aime le café.
I-like the coffee
I like coffee.
Les chats sont indépendants.
the cats are independent
Cats are independent.
J’aime café is not a sentence. If you mean coffee as a category, French names the category with le.
And for professions it uses none
Elle est médecin.
she is doctor
She’s a doctor.
After être, a profession takes no article — the one place French drops one and English keeps it. See c’est and il est.