A noun is a person, place or thing. In French, all nouns are masculine or feminine (gender / le genre) and singular or plural (number / le nombre). The French definite article is used more than the English definite article “the” wich is the only definite article in English whereas we have four in French.
The Definite Article
The French definite article agrees with the noun in gender and number.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | le | les |
| Feminine | la | les |
| Masculine and Feminine before a vowel sound or mute h |
l’ |
les |
Masculine singular nouns take the definite article le. The genders of French nouns are hard to guess. You will learn them as you go along (every time you will learn a new noun, make sure to know the gender). Here are some masculine nouns with their articles :
le camion the truck
le livre the book
le chat the cat
le pays the country
le cheval the horse
le père the father
Feminine singular nouns take the definite article la. Here are some feminine nouns with their articles :
la boutique the store
la fourchette the fork
la chaussure the shoe
la jupe the skirt
la fille the girl
la lampe the lamp
Many feminine nouns end in -e, but don’t consider this a general rule. For instance, the nouns in the following list do not end in -e, but they are all feminine :
la chaleur warmth
la main the hand
la fleur the flower
la nuit the night
la forêt the forest
la paix the peace
The definite aticle l’ is used before all singular nouns, masculine and feminine, starting with a vowel or a mute h. The -e or -a of the definite article is dropped. When the noun starts with h, pronounce the vowel that follows the h.
Here are some nouns with their gender in parentheses (m. or f.). Try to learn the gender for each noun :
l’ami (m.) the male friend
l’amie (f.) the female friend
l’anglais (m.) English (language) or the Englishman
l’anglaise (f.) the Englishwoman
l’enfant (m. or f.) the child
l’école (m.) the school
l’avion (m.) the plane
l’hôtel (m.) the hotel
The plural definite article of all nouns (masculine and feminine) is les :
les livres the books
les maisons the houses
les voitures the cars
les touristes the tourists
The final -s of les is usually not pronounced : les voitures [lay vwa-tur] ; les touristes [lay too-reest]. However, when the -s of les is followed by a vowel sound, it is pronounced [z] and begins the following syllable, this is called a liaison : les_exercices [lay-zehg-zehrr-sees] (the exercises) ; les_hommes [lay-zohm] (the men). For more about the liaison and how to pronounce it read the lesson here.
The Indefinite Article
The singular indefinite article in French, corresponding to a and an in English, is un for masculine nouns and une for feminine nouns. Depending on the context, un / une can also mean the number one : as-tu un euro ? (do you have one euro ?)
The indefinite article is the same for nouns beginning with a consonant or a vowel.
Here’s a list of masculine singular nouns with the indefinite article :
un ami a friend
un avion a plane
un lit a bed
un livre a book
Here’s a list of feminine singular nouns with the indefinite article :
une amie a friend
une école a school
une fille a girl
une lampe a lamp
The plural indefinite article of both masculine and feminine nouns is des, the English equivalent would be some. Here again, the final -s of des is usually not pronounced : des voitures [day vwa-tur] ; des touristes [day too-reest]. However, like with les, when the -s of des is followed by a vowel sound, we do the liaison and pronounce it [z] : des_exercices [day-zehg-zehrr-sees] (some exercises) ; des_hommes [day-zohm] (some men).
For more about the liaison and how to pronounce it read the lesson here.
Here’s a list of plural nouns with their gender in parentheses (m. or f.), with the indefinite article :
des maisons (f.) some houses
des arbres (m.) some trees
des garçons (m.) some boys
des filles (f.) some girls