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- 2. In French, thereare 3 types of articles: • Definite articles • Indefinite articles • Partitive articles
- 3. Definite articles Definite articlesrefer to a specific object that the noun is referring to. Unlike the English equivalent of “the”, there are 4 types of definite article: • Le for masculine nouns • La for feminine nouns • L’ for any nouns which follow by a vowel or a silent H. • Les for plural
- 4. There are timeswhere the definite article is used in French but in English, “the” is omitted: • Nouns used to generalise La fumé est mal pour la santé. • Names of continents, countries, regions and languages La France - France • School subjects, sports, illnesses, parts of the body Les mathématiques - Mathematics • Meals and drinks Le coca - coke • Fractions La moitié – a half • Titles Le président - President
- 5. There are alsotimes when le, la, l’ and les are not required: • Languages placed after the verb parler Mon ami peut parler allemand. • After en or de with feminine place names En France
- 6. Indefinite articles Indefinite articlescan refer to any object that the noun is referring to. There are 3 types of indefinite articles: • Un for masculine nouns (English equivalent – “a”/“an”) • Une for feminine nouns (English equivalent – “a”/“an”) • Des for plural (English equivalent – “some”/ “any”)
- 7. There are alsotimes when un, une and des are not required: • After quel, comme, en, en tant que, sans, ni Je ne vivre pas sans télé. • Before a person’s occupation Mon ami veulent devenir vendeur. • In a list Tomates, carottes, haricots, bananes et pommes.
- 8. Partitive articles A partitivearticle is an article that refers to a noun indicating a part or a quantity as distinct from a whole. There are 4 types of partitive articles which are the French equivalent of “some” / “any”: • Du for masculine nouns • De la for feminine nouns • De l’ for nouns which follow by a vowel or silent H • Des for plural
- 9. However, there aretimes when the forms change to de/d’: • After a negative verb (also applies to un/une) except ne...que Je ne mange pas de viande. Je ne regarde que la télé pendant le weekend. • With plural nouns preceded by an adjective Dans mon jardin, il y a de belles fleurs. • In expressions such as bordé de, couvert de, plein de Sur la télé, il y a plein d’émissions à regarder.
- 10. There are alsotimes when “some” is omitted in English but not in French. Il vend des bonbons. He sells sweets.
- 11. With nouns, therecan be two different forms for masculine and feminine which mean the same thing: Un ami/une amie Un italien/une italienne Un chanteur/une chanteuse Un acteur/une actrice Some nouns can refer to either gender: Un/une élève Some nouns are masculine even when they refer to a female: Un professeur
- 12. Noun endings thatare usually masculine Noun endings that are usually feminine É Eau Acle Age Ège Ème Isme Asme Ée Ère Euse Ade Itude Ace Once/anse Ense/ence Ie Ise Oire Ité Té Tié Tion Sion Aison Ison Here are the noun endings which determine whether they are masculine or feminine.
- 13. Plurals Most French nounsadd an S to make them plural: La raison, les raisons
- 14. Plurals However, not allnouns follow this pattern: • Nouns ending in AL change to AUX Un animal, des animaux • Nouns ending in S, X or Z stay the same Le/les bras Le/les prix Le/les quiz • Nouns ending in EAU or EU, add an X Un cadeau, des cadeaux Un jeu, des jeux • Some nouns change completely L’oeil, les yeux