Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday, 7 February 2017 / No comments
The indefinite article in French
The singular indefinite
article in French, corresponding to a (an) in English, is un for
masculine nouns and une for feminine nouns. The plural of both forms is des,
roughly equivalent to some (though it’s usually not translated as some).
Depending on the context, un/une can also mean the number one.
Singular Plural
Masculine
un des
Feminine une des
Masculine
Nouns
Pronounce
the examples, learning the gender of each noun along with its article. The
indefinite article is the same for nouns beginning with a consonant or a vowel.
un
ami
a friend (m.) un hôtel an hotel
un
autobus
a bus un jardin a garden
un
billet
a ticket un musée a museum
un
dictionnaire
a dictionary un pianiste a pianist (m.)
un
fauteuil
an easy chair un salon a living room
Feminine
Nouns
Pronounce
the following examples and learn the meaning of words new to you. A practical
way to learn the gender of a noun is to link it with un or une.
une
amie
a friend (f.) une librairie a bookstore
une
bibliothèque
a library une mère a mother
une
héroïne
a heroine une page a
(book) page
une
*Hollandaise
a Dutchwoman
une
valise
a suitcase une leçon a lesson une ville a
city
Note that l’héroïne
(f.) (unlike le *héros) is pronounced with a mute
h and elides
its definite article. The h of le *héros is an aspirate h
(no
elision).
Plural
Nouns
The plural defi nite
article of all nouns is les; the plural indefinite article is des.
Most French nouns are made plural by adding an -s to the singular. In addition,
note the following plural endings:
- Nouns that end in -s, -x, or -z in the singular stay the same in the plural. un choix des choix a choice, (some) choices
le cours
les cours the
course, the courses
le nez les nez the nose, the noses
- Some plural noun endings are irregular.
le
bureau les bureaux the desk (or office), the
desks (or offices)
un
hôpital des hôpitaux a hospital, (some) hospitals
le
lieu les lieux the place, the places
le
travail les travaux (the) work, the tasks (or
jobs)
- The masculine form is always used to refer to a group (two or more people) that includes at least one male.
un
étudiant et six étudiantes = des étudiants students
un
Français et une Française=des Français French (people)
Pronouncing
the Plural
The
final -s is usually not pronounced in French:
les
touristes [lay
too-Reest]
Spoken French distinguishes most
singular and plural nouns by the pronunciation of the definite article:
le touriste [luh
too-Reest] versus les touristes [lay too-Reest] When the -s of
a plural article (les or des) is followed by a vowel sound, it
is pronounced [z] and begins the
following syllable; this is called a
liaison:
les_exercices
(m.) [lay-zehg-zehR-sees];
des_hommes
(m.) [day-zuhm]
There is no liaison with
the aspirate h. Pronounce the nasal vowel un[In] before un
*héros [In ay-Roh], and do not make the liaison with -s in les
*héros [lay ay-Roh]. Pronounce the following out loud:
des_artistes
[day-zahr-teest]
les_hommes
[lay-zuhm]
les cafés
[lay kah-fay]
des *hors-d’oeuvre
[day uhr-dERR-vR]
des_étudiants
[day-zay-tU-dyAn]
les restaurants
[lay Rehs-toh-RAn]
NOTE:
The word les (or des) *hors-d’oeuvre is invariable in
the plural; it has no fi nal -s.
