 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
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. There are three types of French articles and they all agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.
1) 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 | la | la table | the table | les tables | the tables | ||
| Vowel or h muet | l’ | l’abricot | the apricot | les abricots | the apricots | ||
Learn more about definite articles
2) 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 considered an adjective rather than an article.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | un | un abricot | an apricot | des | des livres | some books | |
| Feminine | une | une table | a table | des tables | some tables | ||
Learn more about indefinite articles
3) 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 | des | des asperges | some asparagus | |
| Feminine | de la | de la tarte | some pie | des épinards | some spinach | ||
| Vowel or h muet | de l’ | de l’argent | some money | des pâtes | some pasta | ||
Learn more about partitive articles
Related lessons
- PwLF super list of article lessons
- Article comparison
- Determiners
- Introduction to nouns
- Parts of speech
En español
In italiano
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
The mountain of French verb conjugations you have to learn can be overwhelming – even just in the classroom where you have plenty of time to think about the correct response. Once you start talking to people in the real world, trying to figure out the appropriate verb conjugation can leave you speechless – literally. So what’s the solution? Learn, then practice, practice, practice!
Inverting subjects and verbs is easy enough – vous voyez => voyez-vous, but where do object, adverbial, and reflexive pronouns go? And what about negation? Take a look at this lesson to learn about all the possibilities.
Magnetic poetry is a fun little tool you can use to learn and practice French. 500 magnets with words and parts of words help you to express yourself in a unique and creative way.
