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Formes contractées
Contractions occur when two words are combined into one, sometimes with a distinctly different spelling. In English, contractions like "I’m" and "won’t" are optional and indicate informality. In French, however, les formes contractées are required, regardless of the register you’re speaking or writing in.
There are two similar groups of words that contract in French.
Definite articles
Le and les contract with the prepositions à and de into articles composés, but la and l’ do not.
| Contraction | |||
| No contraction | |||
| à + le à + les |
au aux |
à + la à + l’ |
à la à l’ |
| de + le de + les |
du des |
de + la de + l’ |
de la de l’ |
Exceptions: Contractions with proper nouns
Only definite articles contract with à and de. The direct object pronouns le and les do not contract.
Par exemple…
| Je continue à les utiliser. | I continue using them. | |
| Il m’a demandé de le trouver | He asked me to find it. |
Lequel
The le and les forms of lequel also contract with the prepositions à and de to create formes composées.
| Contraction | |||
| No contraction | |||
| à + lequel à + lesquels à + lesquelles |
auquel auxquels auxquelles |
à + laquelle | à laquelle |
| de + lequel de + lesquels de + lesquelles |
duquel desquels desquelles |
de + laquelle | de laquelle |
Contractions figées (Fixed contractions)
| en + les | ès | licencié ès lettres | Bachelor of Arts degree | |
| il + elle | iel | Mon pronom est « iel ». | ~ My pronoun is "they." | |
| vois + ci | voici | voici la voiture | here’s the car | |
| vois + là | voilà | voilà le vélo | there’s the bike |
Two words joined by dropping one or more letters and adding an apostrophe are called elisions.
French Contractions Quiz
Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on some of these French contractions with a fill-in-the-blanks exercise:
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
Related lessons
- Contractions with proper nouns
- Informal contractions
- De vs du, de la, des
- Definite articles
- Direct object pronouns
- Elisions
- Lequel (pronoun and adjective)
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