Mastering French Nouns and Articles: A Comprehensive Guide
Dive into the fundamental concepts of gender and number in French nouns, along with the usage of definite and indefinite articles. Learn the rules, exceptions, and practice exercises to enhance your understanding and fluency in the language.
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LESSON 1A.1 : NOUNS AND ARTICLES Objectives Upon completing this lesson, students will learn: Gender and number of words The definite and indefinite articles CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 Mathew Paulson https://www.flickr.com/photos/46837385@N03/6773801511
OVERVIEW This chapter covers one of the most basic and important concepts in the French language: the idea of number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, femenine). The rules you are going to learn apply not only to people but also to things and places. Masculin F menin is, by the way, a movie by French director Jean-Luc Goddard. You can watch the whole movie in Youtube.
Remember this: Words, not things or people, are gendered.
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE The definite article in English is THE. It covers all cases. In French, however, there is a definite article for masculine, feminine, singular and plural noun: Examples: Le (le monsieur=the gentleman) LES (Les messieurs) masculine, plural LA (La femme= the woman), feminine, singular LES (Les femmes) feminine, plural: Usually, to form the feminine of a noun you add E: tudiant (male student) . tudiante (female student) Exceptions (for now!): Acteur (m) actrice (f)/ chanteur (m) chanteuse (f) (singer)
APOSTROPHES Notice that when a noun, masculine or feminine, begins with a vowel you replace the e, o, or a in the article for an apostrophe. Example: Le avion (incorrect) L avion (correct) Other examples: L ami L amie l tudiant .l tudiante No changes with plural nouns: Les amies/ Les messieurs
Lets practice Add the definite article (le, la,les) to the following nouns: (m=masculine/ f=feminine) 1. ______caf (m) 2. ______ami (m) 3. ______ tudiante (f) 4._______acteur (m) 5. _______objects 6. _______bureau (m) 7. _______chose (m) Answers: 1. le caf 2. l ami 3. l tudiante 4. l acteur 5. les objects 6. le bureau 7. la chose. Click here to Listen to the pronunciation of the answers
The indefinite article TheIndefinite article, a, an in English, is: Un (singular, masculine), Une (singular feminine) Des (some) plural, masculine and feminine. In English you say: I have friends/ There are some cities In French you always need the article des: J aides amis/ Il y a des villes
Notice the expression CEST= It is/ CE SONT= They are Example: C estun cahier (singular) It s a notebook Ce sont des cahiers (plural) Notice: Plural of words ending in AU and L add X Examples: Un or le bateau: Des or les bateaux (boat) animal: animaux g n ral: g n raux Yes , the plural of words can be irregular too. Don t forget, plural of un/une is DES
AND MORE PRACTICE Write the correct definite article before each noun. 1. ______biblioth que 2. _______chanteur 3. _______amis 4. _______sociologie 5. _______examen 6. _______ordinateurs 8. _____caf 9. _____bureaux 10. ____petit ami 11. ____facult 12. ____objects 7. _____chose Answers: 1)la 2) le 3)les 4)la 5) l 6) les 7) la 8)le 9) les 10) le 11) la 12) les
3. Singulier ou pluriel? Give the plural form of each singular noun and article and the singular form of each plural noun and article. Use definite articles in the first column and indefinite articles in the second. 1. l tudiant__________________ 7. des tudiants____________________ 2. Les amies__________________ 8. Un lyc e_________________________ 3. La librairie__________________ 9. une chanteuse____________________ 4. Les caf s________________10. des choses______________________ 5. Le bureau__________________ 11. un animal_______________________ 6. Les examens________________ 12. un instrument___________________ Answers: 1. les tudiants 2. l amie 3. les librairies 4. le caf 5. les bureaux 6. l examen 7. une tudiante 8. des lyc es 9. des chanteuses 10. une chose 11. des animaux 12. des instruments Roger Celis
