Articles – le, la,
les, un, une,
des, du, de la
Les articles
One of the eight parts of speech, an
article is a word that modifies
a noun in a particular way, by stating
whether the noun is specific,
unspecific, or partial. French articles Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
agree in gender and number with the
nouns they modify, and there are
three types:
Definite / Défini
The definite article indicates that the speaker is referring to either a specific noun or to a
class of nouns in a general sense. The English definite article, the, has four equivalent
forms in French, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter
it begins with.
Singular Plural
Masculine le le livre the book les les livres the books
Feminine l la table the table les tables the tables
a
Vowel or h mue l’ l’abrico the apricot les the apricots
t t abricots
Learn more about definite articles.
Indefinite / Indéfini
The indefinite article indicates that the speaker is referring to either an unspecific noun
or to one/some of something. The English indefinite article has two forms, a and an,
while the French has three, depending on the gender and number of the noun.
The English equivalent of des is some, which is not considered an article in
English.
Singular Plural
Masculin un un an apricot de des livres some books
e abricot s
Feminine un une table a table des some tables
e tables
Learn more about indefinite articles.
Partitive / Partitif
The partitive article indicates that the speaker is referring to only a portion or some of
an uncountable noun, often food or drink. There are four forms in French, depending on
the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.
Singular Plural
Masculine du du beurre some butter de des some
s asperges asparagus
Feminine de de la tarte some pie des some spinach
la épinards
Vowel or de l’ de some des pâtes some pasta
h muet l’argent money
Learn more about partitive articles.