Learning a new language is like learning a new instrument: you need to learn the technical part before you can move to the artistic part. Grammar provides the technical part for languages. If you want to speak fluently and write correctly, you need to understand the grammar first. In every language we learn, there are grammatical rules that represent some sort of a guideline on how to use this language. Some of these rules are common and apply to all languages, they are common sense, and others are more specific, and differ from one language to another.
As we learn about French, we must learn the basic rules, in order to use this language correctly.
There are plenty of things to learn about grammar in the French language.
In this article, we are going to learn about French articles: What are articles? When and how do we use them? What are the types of articles?
In English literature, an article is “any of the English words “a”, “an”, and “the”, or words in other languages that do the same job as these”
What are the equivalents of these articles in French?
First of all, we should keep in mind that there are various types of articles , but today we will talk about 2 types:
- Definite articles
- Indefinite articles
Definite article:
According to the Cambridge dictionary, a definite article is the grammatical name for the word “the” in English, or the words in other languages that have a similar use.
In French, we have several definite articles, depending and the gender and the number in the word that follows it:
| Definite article | When to use it |
| Le | Used with singular masculine nouns |
| La | Used with singular feminine nouns |
| L’ | Used with Singular nouns that start with a vowel |
| les | Used with Plural nouns |
Let’s see some examples of French nouns to understand how to use the definite articles:
Le
| French | English |
| Le chien | The dog |
| Le message | The message |
| Le changement | The change |
| Le chemin | The road |
| Le sujet | The subject |
| Le voisin | The neighbor |
| Le poisson | The fish |
*PS: We only use the definite article “le” with singular masculine nouns that start with a consonant
La
| French | english |
| La Fenêtre | The window |
| La maison | The house |
| La ceinture | The belt |
| La tortue | The turtle |
| La fleur | The flower |
| La vache | The cow |
| La couleur | The colour |
*PS: We only use the definite article “la” with singular feminine nouns that start with a consonant
L’
| French | english |
| L’armoire | The wardrobe |
| L’enfant | The kid |
| L’arbre | The tree |
| L’escalier | The stair |
| L’artiste | The artist |
| L’animal | The animal |
| L’élève | The pupil |
*PS: We only use the definite article “l’” with singular nouns that start with a vowel
Les
| French | english |
| La Fenêtre | The window |
| La maison | The house |
| La ceinture | The belt |
| La tortue | The turtle |
| La fleur | The flower |
| La vache | The cow |
| La couleur | The colour |
*PS: We use the definite article “les” with all plural nouns
Sometimes, definite articles can be contracted, like in the case of “des”
* de + les = des
Example: “J’ai peur des araignées” which means: I am scared of spiders
Indefinite article
According to the Cambridge dictionary, an indefinite article is the grammatical name for the words “a” and “an” in English or words in other languages that have a similar use
In French, we have several definite articles, depending and the gender and the number in the word that follows it
* PS: Unlike the case of definite articles, we use the same indefinite articles whether the noun starts with a vowel or a consonant
| Inefinite article | When to use it |
| Un | Used with singular masculine nouns |
| une | Used with singular feminine nouns |
| Des | Used with Plural nouns |
Let’s see some examples of French nouns to understand how to use the indefinite articles:
Un
| French | English |
| Un chat | A cat |
| Un livre | A book |
| Un écharpe | A scarf |
| Un oeuf | An egg |
| Un sac | A bag |
| Un ascenseur | An elevator |
| Un jardin | A garden |
*PS: We use the indefinite pronoun “un” with all singular masculine nouns, whether they start with a vowel or a consonant
Une
| French | english |
| Une armée | An army |
| Une erreur | A mistake |
| Une chambre | A room |
| Une porte | A door |
| Une valise | A suitcase |
| Une étoile | A star |
| Une bouteille | A bottle |
*PS: We use the indefinite pronoun “une” with all singular masculine nouns, whether they start with a vowel or a consonant
Des
| French | english |
| Des gateaux | cakes |
| Des camions | trucks |
| Des amis | friends |
| Des cigarettes | Cigarettes |
| Des robes | dresses |
| Des jouets | toys |
| Des lapins | rabbits |
*PS: We use the indefinite article “des” with all plural nouns, whether they are feminine or singular.
No the question is, when do we use each type of these articles?
Definite articles are used to mention someone or something that is already know, to indicate a specific thing, for example: “C’est la voiture de ma mere” which means “This is my mother’s car.”
In this case, the object I’m referring to is familiar to me, that’s why I use a definite article (the car is defined as the car that belongs to my mother).
Now let’s suppose that I have never seen that car before, I see it in my neighborhood one day and I don’t know its owner, I would say to my neighbors: “there is a car parked outside my house, is it yours, please?” So in French I would say: “Il y a une voiture garée devant ma maison, est-ce que c’est la votre ?”
And there you have it! That is the difference between definite articles and indefinite articles, it’s not that hard once you understand the rules, don’t you think?
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