A1 · The articles
Definite article: le, la, les
The definite article — and what it tells you about the word.
At a glance
- Remember
- What you like in general, you like with an article.
- Form
- le livrethe book
- Signal words
- aimer
- préférer
- détester
- Trap
- Wrong:J’aime café.Right:J’aime le café.
Your turn
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The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French.
| 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 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
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 usually takes no article.
Je parle français.I speak French.
Example sentences
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.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
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.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
French has two genders, masculine and feminine, and no neuter. legoes in front of masculine wordslain front of feminine oneslesin 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.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: être · aimer · parler