LC-4310 - French 1, Lecture, 1.11.2021-13.12.2021

1.       L’article défini

 

	Masculin	Féminin
Singulier	le (l’)*	la (l’)*
Pluriel	les	les

*devant une voyelle

 

The French definite article corresponds more or less to "the" in English.

It is used with nouns that are specific, clearly defined or unique:

Je vais à la banque.                    I'm going to the bank.

Voici le livre que j'ai lu.            Here is the book I read.

It is also used when referring to concepts or to the “general meaning” of a noun.

J'aime la glace.                            I like ice cream.

C'est la vie !                                  That's life!

 

2.       L’article indéfini

 

There are two kinds of indefinite article: the one that is used with countable nouns and the one that is used with uncountable nouns. The latter is also called “article partitif”.

 

a)      dénombrable

	Masculin	Féminin
Singulier	un	une
Pluriel	des	des

 

The singular indefinite countable articles in French correspond to "a," in English, while the plural corresponds to an absence of article in English.

 

Je cherche un livre.                    I’m looking for a book.

Vous avez des enfants ?          Do you have children?

 

 

b)      indénombrable (partitif)

	Masculin	Féminin
Singulier	du (de l’)*	de la (de l’)*

 

The partitive article indicates an unknown quantity of something uncountable, or an indefinite portion of something countable.

 

Tu veux du thé ?                         Do you want some tea?

J’ai mangé de la pizza.              I ate some pizza.

 

c)       La forme négative de l’indéfini : DE

When an indefinite article is used with an object in a negative sentence, its form is always “de”.

 

Je ne cherche pas de livre.      I’m not looking for a book.

Vous n’avez pas d’enfants ?   You don’t have any children?

Tu ne veux pas de thé ?           You don’t want any tea?

Je n’ai pas mangé de pizza.    I didn’t eat any pizza.