Language/French/Grammar/Definite-article

Definite article in French

French Articles

French has 3 kinds of articles:

1. Definite articles
2. Indefinite articles
3. Partitive articles

The table below summarizes the different forms:

French Articles
	Definite article	Indefinite article	Partitive
masculine	le	un	du
feminine	la	une	de la
in front of a vowel	l'	un/une	de l'
plural	les	des	des

Definite articles in French

In French, nouns are almost always preceded by an article or a determiner. This indicates the gender of the noun (masculine or feminine) and its number (singular or plural).

The definite article (articles définis) (le, la, les) goes with a noun whose meaning is completely determined.

They correspond to the English article the.

Examples

• sur la table

on the table

• près de la fenêtre

near the window

Video - French Definite Article / How to say THE in French

Learn how to say “the” in French

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Lessons : Definite article & Indefinite article

Related Lessons

• How to use « il s'agit de » in French
• Impersonal verbs
• Adverbs
• Cardinal numbers
• Use of l'on
• Use of the definite article with parts of the body
• Demonstrative pronouns with —ci and —là
• Possessive determiners
• Use of jamais
• Adjectives which normally follow the noun
• Ordinal numbers as fractions
• Invariable adjectives
• Homophones
• Cardinal Numbers — When to use figures and when to use words
• Repetition of the definite article