-ion
la nation
the nation
la maison
the house
-ite/-ité la fraternité
brotherhood
la liberté
liberty
-nce
la balance
the scales
-nne
la fille
the girl
-mme
l?indienne
-lle
the Indian
^ Professeur can be shortened to prof (in a familiar context). While the long form, professeur, is always masculine, even when referring to female teachers, prof can be either masculine or feminine. (le prof - the (male) teacher) (la prof - the (female) teacher)
' ^ In this book, the definite article will come before a noun in vocabulary charts. If the definite article is l due to elision, (m) will follow a noun to denote a masculine gender and (f) will follow a noun to denote a feminine gender.
G: Definite and indefinite articles
The definite article
In English, the definite article is always ?the?.
Unlike English, the definite article is used to talk about something in a general sense, a general statement or feeling about an idea or thing.
In French, the definite article is changed depending on the noun's:
1. Gender
2. Plurality
3. First letter of the word
There are three definite articles and an abbreviation. "Le" is used for masculine nouns, "La" is used for feminine nouns, "Les" is used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), and "L' " is used when the noun begins with a vowel or silent "h" (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where "a"
changes to "an" before a vowel.
French Grammar ? Print version ?
audio (info ?78 kb ? help)
The Definite Article L'article défini
feminine
la la fille
the daughter
singular
masculine
le le fils[8] the son
singular, starting with a vowel sound l? l?enfant
the child
les filles the daughters
plural
les les fils
the sons
les enfants the children
Plurality, pronunciation, and exceptions
The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an -s. However, the -s ending is not pronounced. It is the article that tells the listener whether the noun is singular or plural.
^ Fils: Most singular nouns do not end in -s. The -s is added for the plural form of the noun. Fils is one exception. Whenever the singular form of a noun ends in -s, there is no change in the plural form.
le fils
les fils
un fils
des fils
the son
the sons
a son
(some) sons
le cours
les cours
un cours des cours
the course the courses a course (some) courses
Secondly, the final consonant is almost always not pronounced unless followed by an -e (or another vowel).
Fils (pronounced feece) is also an exception to this rule.
Elision
Elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel. The definite articles le and la are shortened to l? when they come before a noun that begins with a vowel or silent h. When pronounced, the vowel sound is dropped.
