Learn about definite, indefinite, and partitive articles.
Grammatical agreement is a vast topic - and one of the banes of French students. While in English we have a few pronouns and adjectives that indicate gender and number (e.g., he/him/his and she/her/hers), in French, agreement is found in 5 of the 8 parts of speech.adjectives • articles • nouns • pronouns
There are three types of French articles (definite, indefinite, and partitive), and it's not always easy to know which one you need. Here's a detailed comparison to help you decide.A2 - Low-Intermediate French • articles
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.A1 - Beginning French • agreement • articles • nouns
Contractions with de / à plus a definite article are not always required when the article is part of a proper noun, such as a city, title, organization, or surname.
The preposition de can be very difficult for French students, even at advanced levels. Knowing whether to use du, de la, or des rather than just de can be a real challenge! This lesson is a detailed explanation of when to use the preposition de all by itself and when to use the indefinite article, partitive article, or de + definite article (which looks like the partitive - but isn't. Ugh!)
The French definite articles (le, la, l', les) indicate either a particular noun or, contrarily, the general sense of a noun. They're used similarly to their English counterpart "the," but there are many instances where a definite article is required in French but not English.A1 - Beginning French • agreement • articles • plurals
Determiners are a category of grammatical terms that includes articles, numbers, and non-qualifying adjectives. Unlike qualifying adjectives, determiners serve two functions: they introduce and modify nouns at the same time.adjectives • articles • B1 - Intermediate French
With articles, the de vs du, de la, des choice has to do with affirmative/negative and whether there's an adjective in front of the noun.adjectives • articles • negation • plurals • prepositions
The aptly named indefinite article (un, une, des) indicates an unspecific or unidentified countable noun.A1 - Beginning French • agreement • articles • indefinition • plurals
What's the difference between on and l'on? In a nutshell, on is sometimes preceded by l' for reasons of euphony.articles • B2 - Upper-Intermediate French • pronouns
The partitive article (du, de la, de l', des) refers to an unspecified quantity of food, liquid, or some other uncountable noun. English has no equivalent article - the partitive is usually translated by the adjectives "some" or "any," or may be left out entirely.A1 - Beginning French • articles • lesson plans
Generally speaking, articles are much more common in French than in English, but there are exceptions, such as when certain prepositions are followed by nouns.articles • B2 - Upper-Intermediate French • nouns • prepositions
Do you know the difference between un and l'un? If you answered, "Huh? Why would you ever put l' in front of un?" then this is the lesson for you.articles • B2 - Upper-Intermediate French • formalities • pronouns
