The article is a functional part of speech in French. This part of speech carries information about the gender, case and number of the noun, and also indicates whether the subject has been discussed before or is mentioned for the first time.

There are two types of articles in French: the definite (un, une, des) and the indefinite (le, la, les). The article is not translated into Russian and is placed before the noun. If an adjective precedes a noun, the article is placed before the adjective.

Indefinite article

Initially, the article had the meaning “one of many” and denotes an unknown object. The article indicates the gender of the noun, and, as can be seen from the table, the plural article is used for nouns of any gender:

So, the indefinite article is used when you name an object that belongs to some class of objects, for example: C'est un livre.(This book is one of many, some kind, we do not specify which one).

The indefinite article is used only with singular countable nouns.

Also, the indefinite article can mean “one”: J'ai une sour.— I have one sister.

The item mentioned for the first time must also be used with the indefinite article.

If a noun begins with a vowel or silent h, when pronounced, the final consonant article and the initial vowel of the noun are linked, for example: un homme [enom] - a person, des hommes [dezom] - people.

In some cases, the indefinite article can be replaced by the preposition de. This occurs after verbs in negative sentences (except the verb être), for example: Je n'ai pas de sour. And also if there is an adjective before a plural noun, for example: Ils ont de grandes chambres.— They have large rooms.

The indefinite article is also usually used after phrases "c'est" And “ce sont.”

If this is not the first time you are talking about a subject, you will need a definite article.

Definite article

The definite article indicates a specific, already known object, and also shows the gender of the noun. If a noun begins with a vowel or silent h, the final vowel of the singular article is truncated. For example: l'enfant.

The definite article is used:
1. To designate a previously mentioned object or person. C'est un livre. Le livre est intéressant.- This is a book. The book is interesting.
2. To denote a subject that becomes known thanks to additional information or context. Elle est la sour de Pierre.- She is Pierre's sister.
3. With dates: le 8 mars- March 8.
4. Before geographical names: Les Alpes- Alps.

In some cases the article is not used at all.

1. If a possessive or demonstrative adjective is used before a noun: C'est mon livre.- It is my book.
2. Before nouns denoting occupation, position, profession or nationality: Je suis médecin.- I am a doctor. Il est Anglais.- He is an Englishman.
3. Before city names: J'habite à Paris.- I live in Paris.
4. With the names of the seasons: l'hiver- winter.

In addition to the definite and indefinite articles, in French there is such a thing as a partial or partitive article. You will learn about it in one of the following lessons, but for now, do a few exercises to consolidate the topic.

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Translate into French:

1. We live in London. 2. I have a brother and a sister. 3. This is a girl. This girl is beautiful. 4. He is a teacher. 5. She bought a car. 6. She is an actress. 7. I am Polish. 8. This is a big house. 9. I don't have a book. 10. I'm looking for a way.

Answer 1.
1. Nous habitons à Londres. 2. J'ai un frère et une sour. 3. C'est une femme. La femme est belle. 4. Il est professeur. 5. Elle a acheté une voiture. 6. Elle est actrice. 7. Je suis Polonais. 8. C'est une grande maison. 9. Je n'ai pas de livre. 10. Je cherche la route.

Natalya Glukhova

Articles in French (Les Articles)

28/05 2017

Good afternoon friends! Today I will tell you about articles in French. Back in the 18th – 19th centuries, French was considered the most romantic language in Russia. This is due not only to culture, but also to the unusual pronunciation of words and expressions in the language.

Guttural sounds and articles in French add piquancy and some peculiarity to speech. There are no such parts of speech in Russian, so in the modern world, foreign language learners often omit this grammatical form, but this is completely in vain. After all, these little words have a very big meaning. Let's get to know them better.

All articles can be divided into three main groups: definite, indefinite and partial. Each of them has its own meaning and rules of use. Each group includes several words used before nouns.

From this article you will learn:

From context

The most frequently used article is the definite article (Articles definis). It can usually be found in stories, because its use depends on the meaning of the text. Such particles are placed before words denoting objects that have already been discussed before.

In this way, the speaker shows that he is referring to the very thing that was mentioned earlier. Such a particle can also be used with one-of-a-kind objects. For example: la Terre - Earth.
There are three grammatical types of Articles definitions:

An illustration with examples will help you quickly remember these particles:

Remember that the abbreviation L' can only be used before silent h and before vowels. If the preposition a is in front of le/les, then they merge into fused articles au/aux. This is reflected in the table below.
Except in cases related to the rule, you should select Articles defines when you are talking about:

1. Dates: le 10 mars – March 10.
2. Geographical names: Les Alpes - Alps.
3. Colors: le rouge – red.
4. The same rule applies to the use of articles with names of countries: la Bretagne. - Britain.

It's simple, isn't it? Well, then let's move on.

We don’t know - we don’t determine

If we are talking about a subject for the first time in a conversation or you do not know who or what exactly you are talking about, and do not specify it, then you need to use the indefinite article - Articles indefinis.

There are also three of these particles and their use depends on the grammatical characteristics of the noun.

For example, when you talk about a dog, without meaning any specific one, but only pay attention to the gender or quantity:

If you are talking about something or someone and talking about them for the first time in your story, then you also use indefinite particles. Later in your story, when naming these objects or people, you will already use the particle Le/La/Les.

There are cases when Articles indefinis is replaced by the preposition de:

• In negatives, except être: Noous n’avons pas de hareng. (We don't have herring).
• If there is an adjective or quantitative adverb before a plural noun: Ils ont de grandes chambres. (They have big rooms).

In addition, choose the indefinite article when you want to say a phrase with phrases c’est/ ce sont. C'est un livre. This is a book.

Partial articles are formed by adding de to definite particles. At the same time, note that in some cases de merges with le and the result is a merged du. Similarly, a merged des is obtained.

Consider the table below. It will help you better remember the uses and changes of partial articles:

Special Expressions

There are times when you do not need to use any of the listed articles:

1. Possessive pronouns or demonstratives replace the article: Ceci est ma plume. - This is my pen.
2. Words denoting profession, activity, position and nation: Il est américain - He is an American.
3. Seasons are also used without particles: l'hiver. - Winter.
4. From the names of the cities: Je vis à Moscow. - I live in Moscow.

There is no part of speech similar to articles in the Russian language. But if regularly

Articles in French, like many other languages, are divided into definite and indefinite.

Definite article: le (m.r., singular); – la (f.r., singular); - l" (m.r. and zh.r., singular, if the word begins with a vowel or silent h); - les (f.r. and m.r., plural)

We use the definite article to name a specific being, a specific person, or a specific thing. The definite article for the singular becomes “l’” before a noun beginning with a vowel or silent h.

Examples : Je suis Julie, la fille de Collette. (I'm Julie, Colette's daughter).

La cliente voudrait un gâteau au chocolat. (The client would like a chocolate cake).

Les deux frères sont très différents. (The two brothers are very different.)

Ce sont les parents de Felix? (Are these Felix's parents?)

C'est la collègue de Thomas. (This is Thomas' colleague.)

Fabienne invite ses enfants à la maison. (Fabien invites his children to his home.)

The definite article can be accompanied by prepositions à or de and then it forms continuous article:

a + le = au a + la = à la a + l’ = a l' a + les = aux
de + le = du de + la = de la de + l’ = de l' de + les = des

Examples:

• Vous dînez au restaurant, ce soir? (Are you having dinner at a restaurant tonight?)
• Ils voyagent souvent à l "étranger. (They often travel abroad.)
• Il va souvent dans des marches aux puces en ville. (He often goes to the city's flea markets.)
• Art Plus, c'est le magazine des arts. (Art Plus is a magazine about art.)

We use definite article:

1. Before the names of the parts of the day. Examples : Le matin(Morning). / À 2 heuresdu matin(At 2 o'clock in the morning).

2. Before the days of the week. Examples: Nous dejeunons ensemble le lundi et le vendredi. (We have lunch together on Mondays and Fridays). (i.e. every Monday and every Friday we have lunch together.) But: Il reviendra mardi. (He will be back on Tuesday).

3. Before dates.Examples: Il reviendra le 17 octobre.(He will return on October 17). Je vais reprendre le travail le 8 juin. (I will start work again on June 8th). Le 15 août est la fête natinalle. (August 15 is a national holiday).

4. Before the seasons.Examples:: Aprésl' a utomne c'estl' h iver (After autumn comes winter).

5. Before geographical names.Examples : les Pyrénées (Pyrenees),la Seine (Seine),la Bretagne(Britain)…

6. To name peoples and languages. Examples : les Belges (Belgians), les Anglais (English)… / l' anglais (English language), le grec (Greek language)… Example: Elle parle parfaitement le japonais! (She speaks excellent Japanese!)

7. To name colors.Examples : le blanc (white),le rouge (red).

8. Before superlatives. Example: Set écrivain est le plus celebre en France. (This writer is the most famous in France).

9. To indicate the measure. Example : Les prices cost 4 euros le kilo. (Cherry costs 4 euros per kilogram).

10. To give approximate, approximate figures.Example :Ce jeune homme doit avoirla trentaine.(This young man is about 30 years old).

11. Before some holidays. Examples : La Saint-Nicolas (St. Nicolas day),l' Ascension (Ascension),la Pentecôte (Trinity Day).But: Noël (Christmas), Pâques (Easter)

12. In front of body parts. Example: Elle se love les mains. (She washes her hands.)

P.S. After the verbaimer(to love) we write onlydefinite article! Example: Vous aimez les lanques étrangères? (Do you like foreign languages?)

We do not use the article:

· Before proper names and names of cities, except for masculine city names. Examples : Athènes (Athens)/Le Havre/Paul(Paul), Mari (Marie), Collette (Colette)…

· Before monsieur, madame, mademoiselle. Example : Voilà Mademoiselle Lemoine.(Here is Mademoiselle Lemoine).

Indefinite article: un (m.r., singular) – une (f.r., singular) – d es(m.r. and f.r., plural) And partial article: du (m.r.) – de la (f.r.) – de l’(m.r. and zh.r. before a vowel orhmute) – des

We use indefinite article to name beings, people or things that are not specific, identified, meanwhile, partial article names some part of the whole.

Examples :

• Elle achète un sandwich. (She buys a sandwich).
• Collette est une amie de Françoise. (Colette is Françoise's friend).
• Je prépare une conférence pour deux cents personnes, en mai. (I'm preparing a conference for 200 people in May.)
• Vous avez un rendez-vous? (Are you having a meeting?)
• Ils mangent une tarte. (They eat cake).
• Vous regardez un documentaire a la television. (You are watching a documentary on TV).
• C'est fantastique d'étudier une nouvelle langue! (It's great fun to learn a new language!)
• Ils organisent une grande soirée pour leurs parents. (They are organizing a big party for their parents).
• Il achète de l'aspirine, de l'huile, de l'eau. (He buys aspirin, oil, water).
• Prends de la vitamine C! (Take some vitamin C!)
• J"écoute de la music. (I listen to music).
• Elle a ordonné des legumes avec du beurre. (She ordered vegetables with butter).
• On peut y voir des vases, des lampes, des photos, de la vaisselle. (You can find vases, lamps, photos, dishes there.)
• J'ai des amis à Québec. (I have friends in Quebec.)

We replace the indefinite article and partial article with the preposition de:

1. Before a plural adjective. Examples: Jules trouve chaque fois de beaux objets. (Jules always finds beautiful objects.) But we keep the article when adjective + noun = compound noun. Examples: Nous visitons souvent des Residences secondaires de nos parents. (We often visit our relatives' country houses.)

2. After an adverb or expression of quantity: beaucoup de(a lot of),peu de(few), plus de(more), moins de(less)…Examples: Beaucoup de tourists étrangers visitent la France. (Many foreign tourists visit France). Nous voyons plus de films ici qu’à Lyon. (We watch more films here than in Lyon). But: Bien des gens aiment voyager à l'étranger. (Many people like to travel abroad).

3. After expressions:un morceau de(a piece…) une tranche de(chunk, piece, cut...), one kilo de(kilogram…) une bouteille de(bottle …), un paquet de(package, bundle, pack...), un mètre de(meter…), …. Examples: Un kilo de pommes de terre (Kilogram of potatoes), Un paquet de biscuits (Pack of cookies)

4. In negation (except when the verb être is used in the phrase).Examples : Il ne boit pasde lait.(He doesn’t drink milk).Nous n’avons pasde saumon. (We don't have salmon).

But we do not change the form of the article if the negation does not apply to the entire phrase, but only to its separate part. Example:Marie ne boit pas d u café mais d u thé. (Marie doesn't drink coffee, but she does drink tea).

5. P after the preposition "sans" (without). Example: Il boit son thé sans sucre.(He prefers to drink coffee without sugar).Je voudrais un sandwich sans beurre. (I would like a sandwich without butter).

We also talked about indefinite articles in our new video lesson:

You can get more detailed advice from the author of the article or sign up for a lesson with any of our tutors.

blog.site, when copying material in full or in part, a link to the original source is required.

Pronouns...

In the case of French pronouns, these tricky words can suck a lot of blood - in some cases it is extremely difficult to remember which pronoun replaces what, and in what order the pronouns follow each other within the same sentence. How to understand all these “he”, “us”, “to her”, “for them” in French?

In this article, we have compiled clear, concise and complete instructions on how to get rid of repeated nouns in a sentence and use pronouns to give your speech a true French idiomaticity.

• Unstressed personal pronouns

Personal pronouns always agree in gender and number with the person or thing they replace in the sentence. These pronouns may look small and insignificant, but they instantly add completeness and conciseness to your sentence structure and show that you understand how a phrase is constructed in French according to the laws of the language.

You came across these pronouns right away in your first French lesson, because without them it is impossible to form a single sentence, and the form of the conjugated verb depends on them. So, pronouns that take the place of subjects in a sentence:

1 l. units h. - je/j'- I
2 l. units h. - tu- You
3 l. units h. - il/elle/on- he she
1 l. pl. h. - nous- We
2 l. pl. h. - vous- you, you
3 l. pl. h. - ils/elles- They

Jacquesétait en retard. - Ilétait en retard. ( Jacques I'm late. - He late).

2) Pronouns replacing direct objects

Je t'aime! Tu m'aimes! - I love you! You like me!

We got off to a good start, right? These two phrases are known to 99% of everyone who cares about French, but we still have to figure out the fact that they contain pronouns that replace the direct object.

So, first of all, let's look at all the pronouns in this group:

1 l. units h. - me/m'- me
2 l. units h. - te/t'- you
3 l. units h. - le/la/l’- his her
1 l. pl. h. - nous us
2 l. pl. h. - vous- you
1 l. pl. h. - les- their

We remind you that truncated forms of pronouns (j’, m’, t’, l’) are placed when the following word begins with a vowel or silent “h”.

Je mange le gateau. - Je le mange. (I eat cake. - I his eat.)

Tu aimes les films français. - Tu les aimes.(You love French films. - You their love.)

Attention: a pronoun always agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces. Yes, you have to keep an extra eye on this, but that’s how French is.

3) Pronouns replacing the indirect object

1 l. units h. - me/m'- to me
2 l. units h. - te/t'- you
3 l. units h. - lui- to him to her
1 l. pl. h. - nous- us
2 l. pl. h. - vous- to you
2 l. pl. h. - leur- them

As you can see, these pronouns are similar to those that replace a direct object, but they perform a different function - they replace a noun in a sentence that is used with a preposition.

Attention: The pronoun system differs in 3L forms. units tsp and 3 l. pl. h.: ​​direct objects are replaced by le/la/les, indirect objects - on lui/leur.

Examples to see this in practice:
Je demande à ma mère.- Je lui demande. (I ask my mother. - I ask her).
Je donne le cadeau aux enfants. -Je le leur donne. (I give a gift to children. - I give his them.)

Don't worry about the two pronouns in a row in the last sentence just yet—there's a great life hack at the end of this article on how to remember the correct order of pronouns in a sentence.

How do you know when to use one pronoun and when to use another? Look for an excuse. If a noun is preceded by a preposition, it is definitely an indirect object.

4) Personal stressed pronouns

It is quite possible that the first French word in your life was precisely the stressed pronoun - you could, for example, in response to the question “Qui est là?” answer “Moi!”

These pronouns serve different functions and are used in a wide range of constructions. Most often they appear in a sentence when it is necessary to place logical emphasis on the subject:

1 l. units h. - moi
2 l. units h. - toi
3 l. units h. - lui/elle/soi
1 l. pl. h. - nous
2 l. pl. h. - vous
3 l. pl. h. - eux/elles

There are a total of 11 ways to use stressed pronouns in a sentence, let’s look at the most common ones:

• After C'est or Ce sont.
  C'est toi Qui laves la salle de bain. - You are cleaning the bathroom.
• When a sentence has several subjects - a noun and a pronoun or two pronouns.
  Michel et moi avons fait du shopping. - Michelle and I went shopping.
• When a question is asked.
  Je suis content, et toi? - I'm happy, and you?
• After prepositions.
  chez lui, sans elle- at his home, without her
• In comparative designs.
  Nous sommes plus rapides qu’ eux. - We are faster than them.
• When indicating ownership.
  Cette tarte est à elle. - This pie belongs to her.

That's it, you can get out of the way and move on to the most interesting part.

5) Reflexive pronouns

Let's finish the conversation about personal pronouns with reflexive pronouns and the verbs with which they are used. To everyone who speaks Russian as a native language, reflexive verbs seem redundant and illogical. But in French they are common, and if you forget about the reflexive particle, you can completely distort the meaning of the entire sentence.

Me, te, se, nous, vous, se- reflexive pronouns that are part of reflexive verbs:

se laver - to wash oneself
se casser - break (some part of the body)
s' habiller - to dress

Pronouns change in person and number when conjugating verbs:
Je me love.
Tu te loves.
Il se love.
Nous nous lavons.
Vous vous lavez.
Ils se lavent.

Probably, for the first time you can feel like a complete idiot, saying out loud nous nous lavons, but reflexive pronouns always agree with the subject in gender and number, and in some cases there is such a funny coincidence in forms.

• Impersonal pronouns

6) Impersonal pronouns acting as subjects

Ce, il- analogues of the impersonal “it” in English. In general, they are interchangeable, but ce more often used in informal communication.

Examples:
Il est possible que… - It is possible that…
C'est moi. - It's me.
Il est nouveau. - This is new.
C'est fini! - Finished!

7) Relative pronouns

These pronouns act as a link between the main and subordinate clauses in a complex sentence. There are only 5 relative pronouns, each with its own precisely limited sphere of use.

The pronoun replaces the direct object in a subordinate clause. In terms of function and use, it can be compared with “that” in English; their fundamental difference is that the English “that” can often be omitted in a sentence, while the French “que” must necessarily be present in the sentence. Compare for yourself:

Où est la chose que j'ai achetée hier? - Where is the thing I bought yesterday?

The pronoun replaces the subject of a subordinate clause and in some cases resembles the English “who”:

Je voudrais un prof qui ne donne pas de devoirs. - I would like to study with a teacher who does not assign homework.

However, the pronoun qui can also refer to inanimate objects:

Cependant, le prof donne des devoirs qui nous aident à apprendre. - However, the teacher gives us homework, which helps us study.

In the last example qui refers to a noun devoirs(homework).

• Lequel/Laquelle/Lesquels/Lesquelles

These beautiful and melodious pronouns replace indirect objects with a preposition.

Attention: if a noun denotes a person, you must use the combination “preposition + qui».

French level in some cases it may be similar to the English “which”:

Je n'ai pas lu la letter à laquelle tu as répondu. - I did not read the letter to which you replied.

• Dont

For indirect objects with preposition de French has a separate pronoun dont, which can be compared to the English “whose” or “that”.

It is often used in sentences with a prepositional verb, such as parler de(talk about something) avoir besoin de(need something) or avoir peur de(to be afraid of something).

For example:

Le pronom dont j'ai peur! - Preposition, whom I'm afraid!

This pronoun indicates a place in space and often coincides in use with the English “where”:

C'est là où j'ai mangé hier. - This is where I ate yesterday.

It's interesting that the pronoun où may also indicate a circumstance of time:

Mercredi, c'est le jour où je pars. - Wednesday is the day I leave.

8) Adverbial pronouns

Luckily for us, French, which is generous with pronouns, in this case limited itself to only two - y And en.

Y à + noun, while en replaces a noun in combination de + noun.

These pronouns are extremely important and are used in virtually every phrase. You might already remember some stable phrases that contain these pronouns: Il y a...(analogous to the English “there is”) or J' en ai un(I have one]). Let's see where else they live.

Let's start with examples:

Je voudrais aller à Paris. -Je voudrais y aller. (I would like to go to Paris. - I would like to go there.)

Il pense à l'été dernier. -Il y pense. (He thinks about last summer. - He thinks about it.)

This pronoun can also replace an entire sentence, which is introduced using a preposition à :

Je pense à ce que j'ai lu. -J' y pense. (I think about what I read. - I think about it.)

Attention: At this stage, it’s easy to get confused with pronouns. Y used instead of a noun in combination à + inanimate noun. Don't confuse it with level, which is used as an allied word, or with lui/leur, which replace the indirect object expressed by an animate noun denoting a person.

Again, examples first:

Ma mère prepare des pâtes. -Ma mere en prepare. (Mom is preparing pasta).

Pronoun en can also act as a substitute for a noun in the combination “numeral/adverb of quantity + noun”:

Il a beaucoup de bonbons. -Il en a beaucoup. (He has a lot of sweets. - He has their a lot of.)
Elle a deux livres.-Elle en a deux. - She has two books. - She has their two.

Attention: pronoun en must always be used when talking about the quantity of something. Yes, you can't say * J'ai un.In this form it will at best be regarded as the beginning of a sentence J'ai un...livre. To say “I have only one,” you need to insert a pronoun en: J'en ai un.

9) Indefinite pronouns

autres- other
chacun, chacune- everyone, every
certain, certaine- some, some
plusieurs- many, numerous
quelqu'un- anyone
tout- All
tous, totes- All

Attention: Most indefinite pronouns are combined with a verb in the 3 l form. units h.

LIFE HACK!

As promised, we show you a way to correctly place pronouns in a sentence. Do you know the French children's song "Frère Jacques"? Whenever you think about where to put le, And where to - lui, hum to the tune of the song:

me, te, nous, vous
me, te, nous, vous
le, la, les
le, la, les
lui, leur
lui, leur
y
en
y
en

Now you can easily produce seemingly furious speeds like “ Je le lui ai donne"!

There are only 8 articles, and you need to learn to understand what information does an article convey about a noun?. It is important to be able to distinguish two types articles.

Two categories of articles:
definite and indefinite

Special forms of definite articles le, la, les

Examples of using articles

Exercise

The exercise suggests listen and choose the correct answer (at the end of the exercise you can correct mistakes and listen to the phrases again); The emphasis is placed on the choice between the definite and indefinite articles. You will become more familiar with two and four in separate lessons (in the exercises for them you will be able to choose or insert required article).

start the exercise

For feminine nouns you will need to make your choice: une, de la or la.

With articles des And les simpler, since you don’t have to think about gender, and they are placed only before plural nouns. numbers (countable). If we are talking about quantity, then choose des(“buy some candy”), and if about a subject in general or known to the interlocutor, then we’ll focus on les(“remove the candy from the table”, i.e. all those that are on the table).

So, the use of the article depends on the context

If the choice of number and gender of the article is predetermined, then The “rules” by which one must choose the category of the article (un, du or le?) depend on the context .

Reading texts will help to better understand in what cases the definite or indefinite article is used: in the texts the difference between un and le, une and la, des and les is better visible. When performing, keep in mind that phrases are inevitably taken out of context, so you need to be able to think through the situation.

Requires consumption indefinite article phrases that we use to describe (the interlocutor does not yet know about the objects):

• c"est - This...
• il y a - there is, there is
• c"estune table - this is (some kind of) table(one item from the homogeneous class)
• sur le bureau il y a un ordinateur - on the table (known to the interlocutor) there is (some kind of) computer
• dans ma chambre il y a une pursuit - there is (some kind of) chair in my room
• j"ai une voiture - I have (some kind of) car

However, if the item there is a definition(for example, whose is it - the genitive case in French is conveyed using the preposition de), then we use the definite article:

• c"est la voiture de mon fils - this is my son's car

The tables below provide some additional information and nuances of the use of articles, and also talk about the truncated and merged forms of the articles le, la, les.
It is highly recommended to do exercises(see menu).

Two types of articles:
uncertain and definite

1. Indefinite articles are placed before nouns that are used for the first time in conversation or have a special characteristic and indicate:

1. un, une, des Indefinite articles (with examples)

1 . The indefinite article can be considered as a numeral : one , one , some (for both genders). In Russian, we often omit these words, since we can determine singular or plural by the noun itself. the number and gender will be told to us by the endings.

In the table below, note that in French:

• endings of nouns do not uniquely determine gender (all words end in -e);
• plural ending ( -s) is not pronounced (most often).

2 . The indefinite article can denote objects, people, about which first mentioned in this context : "some kind ", "some kind ", "some ".

3 . An object already familiar to us may have special quality :

• un soleil rouge se lève à l"horizon - red sun rises on the horizon.

2. le, la, les Definite articles (with examples)

There are only 3 definite articles:

1 . In the most general case, definite articles le , la , les stand for " the same one ", "the same one ", "those same ones ", that is, objects, people that have already been discussed or this context allows us to clearly understand what (who) we are talking about .

• ferme la porte - close the door(the same... - which the interlocutor knows about or is pointed out to him)
• donne-moi le style - give me a pen(the same one...)
• mets les livres sur la table - put the books on the table(the same ones on the same one...)
• le livre est intéressant - the book is interesting(the one we're talking about)
• la mer est calme - the sea is calm(the same thing we see)
• les bananes sont mures - ripe bananas(the same ones that you bought/brought...)

2 . We will also use the definite article for one of a kind items - moon, sun, right bank (it’s the only one by the river! like the left):

• le soleil brille - the sun is shining.

3 . When the word is taken in its most general meaning(for Russian speakers this is the most difficult case to understand, i.e. it requires maximum attention from beginners):

• le chien est l" ami de l" homme - dog- friend of human.

* l" - a “truncated” article (without a vowel) is used instead le And la, if the word begins with a vowel sound; before a series of words with the letter “h” the article may not lose the vowel,

• l" enfant - child;
• l" histoire - story.

Un or Une / Le or la ?

If you have decided on the choice of article category (definite/indefinite), then choosing an article for the masculine or feminine gender is a technical task:

• you need to remember the gender of the noun (use dictionaries and when reading texts pay attention to, which also show gender and number).▲ Go to exercise

  Get acquainted with some features of the use of French articles: