Learn and understand the different articles in French
Articles définis
LE / LA / LES corresponds to THE
Paul est le fils de Robert et d’Anne. [ Paul is THE son of Robert and Anne]
Mary est la fille d’Anne et de Robert.
Mary et Paul sont les enfants de Robert et d’Anne.
Articles indéfinis
UN / UNE / DES corresponds to A
Francois est un garçon. [Francois is A boy]
Francine est une fille.
Francois et Francine sont des enfants.
Articles partitifs
Du, de la, de l’ = unspecified singular quantity
It’s the notion of “some” in English, but we don’t always use the word “some”.
When you are talking about a portion of one item (food, like “some bread”), or something that cannot be quantified (quality, like “some patience”), use what the French call ” a partitive article”:
- du (+ masculine word)
- de la (+ feminine word),
- de l’ (followed by a vowel),
Ex: Je voudrais de l’eau, s’il vous plait. (some water, maybe a glass, or maybe a bottle…)
Ex: Le professeur a de la patience. (patience ; you are not saying how much patience the teacher has, just that he/she has some)
Ex: Voici du gâteau. (some of it, not the whole cake)
Note in my examples, this “some” applies to a singular item.
“Here is some cake”, not “some cakes” . Here, we are talking about a portion of one item, portion that is vague, not specific. These articles “du, de la, de l'” are called “partitive articles” in French.
Important: these articles are often used after the verbs vouloir (“Je voudrais des chaussures noires”) or avoir (“J’ai des chats”) and with food (we use these all the time with food, so it’s a good topic for training with them.)
ARTICLES AFTER à or de
à+le= au (Je vais au marché. = I am going TO THE market)
à+les= aux (Je pense aux vacances.)
de+le= du (Je reviens du cinéma.)
de+les= des (Je reviens des Alpes.)