Language/French/Grammar/Definite-and-indefinite-articles

Definite and indefinite articles in French - le, la, les, un, une, des

 

What is an article?

Names are almost always accompanied by an article or another determinant.

This indicates the gender of the name (male or female) and the number (singular or plural).

There are definite articles (le, la, les) and indefinite articles (un, une, des).

Examples:

• Léna est une copine de Lara et la copine de François.
• Léna a acheté une glace. Elle aime beaucoup la glace.

 

When to use the indefinite article in French?

The form of the indefinite article is a masculine singular and a feminine singular.

There is also an indefinite plural article: "de" (this form remains the same for the masculine and the feminine).

The indefinite article is used when:

We talk about a thing or an indeterminate person.

Example:

• Léna est une copine de Lara. (one among several)

Something is mentioned for the first time in a text (introductory value).

Example:

• Léna a acheté une glace.

Info:

If the name is preceded by an adjective, the plural undefined article des becomes de.

Example:

• Léna et Lara ont acheté de bonnes glaces.

When to use the article defined in French?

The form of the definite article is "le" in the masculine singular, "la" in the feminine singular ("l’" when the next word begins with a vowel) and "les" (feminine and masculine).

The definite article is used:

When you designate a thing or a particular person.

Example:

• Léna est la copine de François.

When referring to a person or thing already identified or when a generalization is made.

Example:

• Elle éteint la lumière.

After "aimer, adorer, préférer, détester"

Example:

• Elle adore les chevaux.

How to contract articles and prepositions?

The definite article and the preposition which precedes it contract and form only one word:

Preposition	Preposition + article	Example
à	à + le = au	la glace au chocolat
à	à + les = aux	fais attention aux enfants
de	de + le = du	parler du jeu
de	de + les = des	c’est la table des enfants

What is the partitive article?

When referring to an indeterminate quantity taken from a whole, we use the partitive article "du" (masculine), "de la" (female).

There is no plural.

The partitive article is used, to designate:

Non-quantifiable things that can not be counted.

Example:

• Il faut acheter de l'eau et du café.

Different sports (with "faire") and musical instruments.

Examples:

• Il fait du foot.
• Il joue de la flûte.

When should not I use an article?

The article is omitted in the following cases:

Names of cities

Example:

• Ils habitent à Paris.

Days of the week

Example:

• Nous l’avons vu lundi.

Months

Example:

• Je suis né en juillet.

Constructions of the type en + means of transport

Example:

• As-tu voyagé en train ou en voiture ?

Jobs in a general context

Example:

• Elle est laborantine.

Exception: to designate a concrete person:

• Je connais la laborantine.

Exception: to designate a particularity :

• C’est une bonne laborantine.

Religions

Example:

• Il est catholique.

Exception: to designate a concrete person:

• C’est le catholique qui va tous les jours à l'église.

Exception: to designate a a particularity :

• C’est un bon catholique.

If the partitive article is necessary, "de" must be used without article in the following cases:

with the quantitative data, except "bien", "la plupar", "une partie", "la majorité" and "la moitié"

Example:

• J’ai bu beaucoup de café.

after the negation

Example:

• Il n’a plus d'eau dans son verre.

On the other hand, with some verbs and expressions built with "de", there is no article.

Examples:

• J’ai besoin d’argent.
• J’ai envie de fraises.

Sources

https://francais.lingolia.com/fr/grammaire/articles

Other Lessons

• Absolute use of the superlative
• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
• How to use « il s'agit de » in French
• Direct object quantifiers and « en »
• Agreement of the past participle when using “avoir” with a preceding direct object
• Conjugation group 3
• The irregular verb être
• Colour adjective compounds
• Pronominal verbs used reflexively
• Meaning of alors