Practice FrenchA1
Definite articles (le, la, les)
English has one word for "the". French has four, because every noun has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number.
The rule
| Form | Use for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| le | masculine singular | le chat (the cat) |
| la | feminine singular | la maison (the house) |
| l' | singular before a vowel or silent h | l'eau, l'homme |
| les | plural, any gender | les chats, les maisons |
Key points
- You can't guess gender from meaning — learn each noun with its article: not chat but le chat.
- l' replaces both le and la before a vowel sound: l'ami, l'école.
- les is the only plural form, so plurals are the easy part.
Watch out
- ❌ le eau → ✅ l'eau (elision before a vowel)
- ❌ la homme → ✅ l'homme (a silent h counts as a vowel sound)
- French keeps the article where English drops it: J'aime la musique. — I like music.
In context
- Le pain est sur la table. — The bread is on the table.
- J'aime la musique. — I like music.
- J'aime l'eau. — I like water.
- Les chats dorment. — The cats are sleeping.
The contracted forms: au, aux, du, des
Le and les never stand after à or de — the words fuse. La and l' never contract.
| Preposition + article | Becomes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| à + le | au | Je vais au marché. — I'm going to the market |
| à + les | aux | Je parle aux enfants. — I'm talking to the children |
| à + la / l' | à la, à l' | Je vais à la gare, à l'école. |
| de + le | du | Il revient du bureau. — He's coming back from the office |
| de + les | des | la porte des voisins — the neighbours' door |
| de + la / l' | de la, de l' | le nom de la rue, le prix de l'eau |
Where French keeps the article and English drops it
French uses the definite article for general statements, likes and dislikes, languages, and body parts:
- J'aime le fromage. — I like cheese (cheese in general).
- Le français est difficile ? — Is French hard?
- Elle se lave les mains. — She washes her hands (not ses mains).
- Les chats détestent l'eau. — Cats hate water.
When English talks about a whole category with no article at all, French almost always wants le / la / les.
Common mistakes
- ❌ Je vais à le marché. → ✅ Je vais au marché. — the contraction is mandatory.
- ❌ J'aime fromage. → ✅ J'aime le fromage. — likes take the article.
- ❌ le école → ✅ l'école — elision before a vowel, whatever the gender.
- ❌ Linking les héros with a "z" sound — héros starts with an aspirated h, so there is no liaison (while les hommes does link: les‿hommes).
Quick answers
How do I know if a noun is masculine or feminine? Mostly you learn the article with the noun, but endings help: -tion, -té, -ette are almost always feminine; -age, -ment, -eau usually masculine. Treat these as strong hints, not laws.
What about un, une and des? Those are the indefinite articles ("a/an", "some") — the A2 articles lesson contrasts the two families, including when des shrinks to de.
Do plurals sound different? Usually only the article tells you a noun is plural: le chat and les chats differ in the article's vowel, not the noun's sound. That is why the article is never optional.
See them in a real text
The A1 story Au marché is built on exactly these forms — le marché, la boulangère, les tomates, au marché. Read it and watch each article choose its noun. Then continue with adjective agreement, which reuses gender and number.
Try three examples
Example 1
You point to the cat.
___ chat.
- le
- la
- l'
- les
Show answer
le
The cat.
Example 2
Type the missing word.
___ pain est sur la table.
Show answer
Le
The bread is on the table.
Example 3
You are talking about one house.
___ maison.
- le
- la
- l'
- les
Show answer
la
The house.
Practice this lesson
Continue with the interactive exercise set and save your progress.