A1 · The articles
le, la, les
The definite article — and what it tells you about the word.
French has two genders, masculine and feminine, and no neuter. le goes in front of masculine words, la in front of feminine ones, les in front of everything in the plural. English lost its genders eight hundred years ago, so there is no instinct to fall back on: the article is part of the word and is learnt with it.
Before a vowel or a silent h both become l'. At that point the gender is invisible, which is a good reason to learn it early — l'hôtel tells you nothing, and you need to know it the moment an adjective turns up.
The definite article also appears in front of general statements and in front of languages and countries, where English puts nothing at all: J'aime le chocolat, La France est grande, Le français est utile.
Die Form
| the book | le livre |
| the table | la table |
| the friend (m), the friend (f) | l’ami, l’amie |
| the books, the tables | les livres, les tables |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
Before a vowel it is l’, whatever the gender.
l’hôtel, l’écolethe hotel, the school
A general statement takes the definite article.
J’aime le chocolat.I like chocolate.
Countries and languages take an article.
La France est grande. Le français est utile.France is big. French is useful.
After parler the language takes no article.
Je parle français.I speak French.
Woran man es erkennt
- aimer
- préférer
- détester
Beispielsätze
Le train part à midi.The train leaves at midday.
J’aime les langues.I like languages.
L’école est fermée.The school is closed.
Les enfants dorment.The children are asleep.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
After aimer, préférer and détester the definite article is compulsory, even though English has nothing there: J'aime le café is «I like coffee», not «I like the coffee». Leave it out and the sentence is not finished. This is the single commonest article mistake an English speaker makes, because «I like coffee» feels complete as it stands.
What you like in general, you like with an article.
Jetzt selbst
5 Aufgaben zu diesem Thema. Die Antworten werden im Browser geprüft; nichts davon verlässt Ihr Gerät.