French Definite and Indefinite articles

1-The definite articles

The French definite articles are le, la, l’ and les.

a-le is used before masculine singular nouns that start with a consonant.

Le stylo = the pen

Le cahier = the exercise book

Le chien = the dog

Le livre = the text book

b-La is used before feminine singular nouns that start with a consonant.

La femme = the woman

La gomme = the eraser

La maison = the house

c-L’ is used before both masculine and feminine singular nouns that start with a vowel or a silent h. Vowels in French are a, e, i, o, u and y.

L’école = the school

L’orange = the orange

L’ardoise = the slate

L’homme= the man

But le héros = the hero.

d-Les is used for both masculine and feminine plural nouns. It’s the plural form of le, la and l’

Les cahiers = the exercises books

Les stylos = the pens

Les maisons = the houses

Les gommes = the erasers

Les écoles = the schools

Les hommes = the men

2- The indefinite articles

The French indefinite articles are un, une and des

a-Un is used before masculine singular nouns

Un stylo = a pen

Un enfant = a child

Un homme = a man

b-Une is used before feminine singular nouns

Une femme = a woman

Une école = a school

Une pomme = an apple

c-Des is used before both masculine and feminine plural nouns. Des is the plural form of un and une.

Des hommes = (some) men

Des femmes = (some) women

Des écoles = (some) schools

Des enfants = (some) children