Articles
The article is a fundamental determiner of the noun. It sets its gender and number. Except for the exceptions (and that is why they are exceptions) it is usually placed in front of the noun.
Definite article
The definite article is used in front of the nouns closely described, or those which have been mentioned before, or those who set some unique things or persons (the same in English - e.g. the Queen).
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | le moustique | les moustiques |
| l’opéra | les opéras | |
| Feminine | la chanson | les chansons |
| l’école | les écoles |
The definite article le and la in the singular form standing in front of a word which begins in a vowel or the silent »h« are shortened by the apostrophe. Out of such form of a noun it is not possible to find the article and therefore it is important to learn the new vocabulary with the indefinite article, so that we are sure about the gender.
Indefinite article
The indefinite article is used before the unspecified nouns or is presented for the first time in a speech.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | un disque | des disques |
| Feminine | une idée | des idées |
Note: in case a noun starts with a vowel or the silent “h” , there is a linking (=liaison) between the article and the noun. Then the silent -s ending will be pronounced with the des, les articles:
les écoles [lezekol], des amis
[dezami]
Article assimilation
| Je vais | à la boulangerie. | |
| au cinéma. |
à + le
au
|
|
| aux Etats-Unis. |
à + les
aux
|
|
| Je reviens | de la poste. | |
| du marché. |
de + le
du
|
|
| des Pays-Bas. |
de + les
des
|
The definite article forms of le and les assimilate with the forecoming prepositions à and de into new forms. (There is no assimilation connected with the feminine gender in singular.)
Partitive article
The partitive article is used in special cases only. It resembles a form of a assimilated definite article with a forecoming preposition de, but from the view of usage it is required to distinguish these grammatical items.
| du raisin (grapes) |
| de la salade (salad) |
| de l’ail (m) / de l’aspirine (f) (garlic / aspirin) |
Zero article
Preposition after Expressions of Quantity
| un kilo de tomates (a kilo of tomatoes) |
| une bouteille de vin (a bottle of wine) |
After the expressions of quantity un peu de, beaucoup de, assez de, trop de and the like, the article is omitted before the noun and only the de preposition is used:
| un peu de persil (a bit of parsley) |
| beaucoup d’argent (a lot of money) |
The absolute negation
In order to form the absolute negation, there is the de preposition used instead of the indefinite or partitive article. Usually, it is not translated, nevertheless we can translate it e.g. by the word no:
| pas de pain (no bread) |
| plus d’eau (no more water) |
| jamais de vin (never the wine) |