French 1 / Unit 3: Nouns, Articles and Adjectives
3.3 Definite Articles
Notes
The definite article means "the". It agrees with the noun's gender and number.
| Masculin | Féminin | |
|---|---|---|
| singulier | le | la |
| devant voyelle / h muet | l' | l' |
| pluriel | les | les |
- le livre, la porte, l'école (f.), l'ami (m.), les livres, les écoles.
- Use the definite article for general likes and dislikes: J'aime la musique. (I like music.)
- Before a vowel or silent h, le and la both become l' (elision): l'hôtel, l'orange.
- The s of les is pronounced like z before a vowel (liaison): les_amis.
Practice
Fill in: « ___ école est grande. »
École begins with a vowel, so le/la becomes l'.
Which phrase is correct?
Plural nouns use les.
You want to say "I like the cats" (in general you like cats). Which sentence fits?
French uses the definite article after aimer to speak in general.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 3 test.