1 – Bonjour et bienvenue!
Grammaire: 1.5 – Les articles indéfinis
Les articles indéfinis = Indefinite articles
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 French, articles are also masculine or feminine, and singular or plural, according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the indefinite articles in French:
| masculine singular: un | |
| Tex est un tatou. Joe-Bob est un écureuil. |
Tex is an armadillo. Joe-Bob is a squirrel. |
| feminine singular: une | |
| UT est une université | UT is a university. |
| plural: des | |
| des tatous des écureuils des chats des universités |
(some) armadillos (some) squirrels (some) cats (some) universities |
In the examples above, listen carefully to the difference in pronunciation of un and des before words beginning with a consonant (un tatou, des tatous) and before a words beginning with a vowel sound (un écureuil, des écureuils). These are examples of liaison.
uses
As the English ‘a’ ‘an’ or ‘some’, the indefinite articles un, une, des refer to nouns which are non-specific. Un or une may also indicate quantity, ‘a’ or ‘an’ in the sense of ‘one.’ Contrast the use of the indefinite and definite articles in the first two sentences below. The indefinite plural des is always expressed in French, but its English equivalent ‘some’ is often omitted.
| Joe-Bob et Corey ont une chambre dans une résidence universitaire à Austin. | Joe-Bob and Corey have a (one) room in a residence hall in Austin. |
‘de’ after the negative
In a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, des are replaced by de or d’:
| Tex: Joe-Bob, tu as un chien? | Tex: Joe-Bob, do you have a dog? |
| Joe-Bob: Mais non! Je n’ai pas de chien. | Joe-Bob: No, I don’t have a dog. I’m a squirrel. |
However, following the verb être, the indefinite articles un, une, des remain unchanged in the negative:
| Edouard: Joe-Bob, c’est un écureuil. Ce n’est pas un tatou! | Edouard: Joe-Bob is a squirrel. He is not an armadillo. |
with adjectives of profession, nationality, and religion
Professions, nationalities and religions are considered adjectives in French and need no article after the verbs être:
| Edouard: Tex devient professeur; il est américain; il n’est pas catholique. | Edouard: Tex is becoming a professor. He is American. He is not Catholic. |
