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The Definite Article by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert

In French, the definite article can take one of four forms:

  • le: when used before a word with masculine gender

  • la: when used before a word with feminine gender

  • l': when used before a word that starts with a vowel or silent “h”

  • les: when used to indicate a group or more than one of an item

Referring to Specific Items or People

The definite article is used when referring to specific items.

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Le professeur est en classe</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The teacher is in the classroom.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Le chien n'aime pas les chats</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>The dog doesn't like cats.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>La viande n'est pas bonne</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The meat is not good.</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Before a Vowel</h2> <p>Whenever <emphasis>le</emphasis> or <emphasis>la</emphasis> precedes a word starting with a vowel or a mute “h,” it becomes <emphasis>l'</emphasis>.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'eau (f)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>water</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'écran (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>screen</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'heure (f)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>hour</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Before some words with an aspirated “h,” the articles <emphasis>le</emphasis> or <emphasis>la</emphasis> are retained: <emphasis>Le héros</emphasis>.</p> <h2>Before Nouns Used in General Sense</h2> <p>The definite article is used to refer to nouns used in a general sense.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>J'aime le français</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>I love French.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Je déteste le café</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>I hate coffee.</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Languages</h2> <p>The definite article is used to refer to names of languages, except when they are paired with the verb <emphasis>parler</emphasis>, as in “<emphasis>je parle français</emphasis>.”</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le français</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>French</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'anglais (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>English</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'espagnol (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Spanish</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'allemand (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>German</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le portugais</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Portuguese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'italien (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Italian</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le chinois</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Chinese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le japonais</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Japanese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le russe</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Russian</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/french/track.jpg"> <div class="npcp"><p><B>TRACK 25</B></p></div> </div> <p>In this section, you learned about the definite article. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of some of the words and phrases you learned.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Le professeur est en classe</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The teacher is in the classroom.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Le chien n'aime pas les chats</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The dog doesn't like cats.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>La viande n'est pas bonne</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The meat is not good.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'eau (f)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>water</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'écran (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>screen</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'heure (f)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>hour</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>J'aime le français</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>I love French.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Je déteste le café</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>I hate coffee.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le français</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>French</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'anglais (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>English</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'espagnol (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Spanish</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'allemand (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>German</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le portugais</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Portuguese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>l'italien (m)</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Italian</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le chinois</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Chinese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le japonais</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Japanese</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>le russe</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Russian</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a 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