1 – Bonjour et bienvenue!
Grammaire: Les articles définis
Definite articles
1. Forms
In French, few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or ‘determined’ by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite (‘the’) or indefinite (‘a’, ‘an’). In addition, French articles are also:
- masculine or feminine
- singular or plural
according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the definite articles in French:
| masculine singular: le (l’) (pronounced like the “je” sound) | ||
| Tex le tatou Joe-Bob l’écureuil |
Tex the armadillo Joe-Bob the squirrel |
|
| feminine singular: la (l’) | ||
| Bette la chatte l’Université du Texas |
Bette the cat (female) The University of Texas |
|
| masculine and feminine plural: les (pronounced using the [e] sound) | ||
|
|
les tatous les écureuils les chats les universités |
the armadillos the squirrels the cats the universities |
2. Pronunciation: élision and liaison
In the examples above, note that le and la both become l’ when they precede a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h: l’escargot, l’université. This is called elision.
When les is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally silent final s of les is pronounced, making a [z] sound. This additional sound linking two words is called liaison. Listen to the following examples:
| Liaison with a vowel or silent h | No liaison with a consonant | ||
| les insectes les animaux les hommes |
les tatous les fourmis |
Note that elision and liaison occur with most words starting with h: l’homme, les hommes, l’hiver, les hivers. Exceptions to this rule are words beginning with an aspirate ‘h’.
Practice:
3. Usage
to identify a specific noun
The definite article is used to identify a specific noun or to refer to a noun that has already been specified.
| Corey: Tu connais la tour de l’Université du Texas? | Corey: Do you know the UT Tower? | |
| Tex: Bien sûr, c’est le symbole de l’Université! | Tex: Of course, it is the symbol of the University! |
Other usages include to express likes and dislikes with verbs of verbs of preference, such as aimer (to love), préférer (to prefer), détester (to detest).
4. Exceptions
Reminder: professions do no require an article
| Tex est ∅ étudiant. Édouard est ∅ professeur. |
Tex lives in Austin, but he prefers Paris. |
