Language/French/Grammar/Form-of-the-article-with-adjectives-and-nouns-beginning-with-a-vowel-or-an-h
le and la are shortened to Y, and du and de la become de V if they immediately precede an adjective or noun beginning with a vowel:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| l'univers (m) | the universe |
| l'électricité (f) | electricity |
| de l'acier (m) | steel |
| de l'eau (f) | water |
| l'ancien régime (m) | the Ancien Regime |
They also behave in the same way when they immediately precede an adjective or noun beginning with a so-called 'silent h' or h muet. This is a written h which has no counterpart in the spoken language:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| l'hiver (m) | winter |
| l'histoire (f) | history |
| de l'héroïsme (m) | heroism |
| de l'herbe (f) | grass |
| l'horrible silence (m) | the terrible silence |
There is also another set of adjectives and nouns beginning with a written h which do have a counterpart in the spoken language. This is misleadingly called an 'aspirate h' or h aspiré. It is misleading because there is no 'h' sound in spoken French. Rather, words which begin with an 'aspirate h' in written French also happen to block reduction of the article to /' or de V in spoken French:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le hibou (m) | the owl |
| la haine (f) | hate |
| du hachis (m) | minced beef |
| de la honte | shame |
| la haute montagne | high up in the mountains |
There is no easy way to distinguish adjectives and nouns which begin with a silent h from those which begin with an aspirate h. Some cases are idiosyncratic. For example, héros 'hero' does not allow contraction of the article: le héros; but héroïne 'heroine or heroin' and héroïsme 'heroism' do: l'héroïne, l'héroïsme.
Many dictionaries indicate an aspirate h by putting ['] at the beginning of the phonetic transcription of the word.
For example:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| hibou ['ibu] (m) | owl |
| histoire [istwar] (f) | story, history |
The final consonant of les and des is pronounced [z] when they immediately precede an adjective or a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h:
| French | English | French | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| les [z] enfants | children | BUT | les hérissons | hedgehogs |
| des [z] amis | friends | BUT | des haricots | beans |
| des [z] héroïnes | heroines | BUT | des héros | heroes |
The final n of un is pronounced when un immediately precedes an adjective or noun beginning with a vowel or silent h, but not otherwise:
| French | English | French | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| un [n] hôtel | a hotel | BUT | un homard | a lobster |
| un [n] honnête home | a decent man | BUT | un haut fonctionnaire | a senior civil servant |
NB: Verbs beginning with an h in the written language also divide into those which require contraction of je, me, le, la, ne, etc., and those which do not:
- J'habite Londres
I live in London
- Je l'héberge
I am letting him stay with me
- Je hais Londres
I hate London
- Je la heurte dans son orgueil
I hurt her pride