Summary Articles and Gender Endings

Articles
Definitive Articles: Nouns
All nouns have a gender either masculine or feminine
- Le for masculine
- La for feminine
- L’ for singular nouns or nouns that begin with a vowel sound
- Les for plural masculine or feminine nouns
E.G. Masculine:
 Le jour = the day
- C’est aujourd’hui le jour = today is the day
 Le soleil = the sun
- Le soleil brille = the sun is shinning brightly
E.G. Feminine:
 La nuit = the night
- Tout le monde dort la nuit = everyone sleeps in the night
 La lune = the moon
- Où se trouve la lune = where is the moon
E.G. Plural
 Les jours = the days
- Les jours s’allongent = the days are getting longer
 Les étoiles = the stars
- Les etoiles scintillent = the stars are twinkling
E.G. Le or La becoming L’ in front of nouns with a vowel or a mute h
 L’Océan = the ocean
- Je nage dans L’Océan = I swim in the ocean
 L’ami = the friend
- L’ami est là-bas
Indefinite articles with nouns
Indefinite articles are un, for masculine singular, une, for feminine singular, and des, for
both masculine and feminine plural
Masculine
 Un projet = a project
 Un stylo = a pen


Feminine

,  Une voiture = a car
 Une maison = a house
Masculine and Feminine Plural
 Des murs (m.pl) = some walls
 Des amies (f.pl) = some friends
Partitive Articles
We use the partitive article when we don’t know the exact quantity of an item, it is always
required in French. It is formed by combining de with the definitive article
de + le = du
- Je mange du pain = I eat some bread
- Je voudrais du chocolat = I would like some chocolate
de + l’ = de l’
- Vous bouvez de l’eau = you drink water
de + la = de la
- Nous achetons de la viande = we’re buying meat
de + les = des
- Elle visite des monuments = she is visiting the mountains


If we want to use it in the negative, then du, de la and des all become de. This is because
the quantity of the item doesn’t exist anymore.
- Ce village a du charme (This village has charm) becomes – Ce village n’a pas de
charme (This village has no charm)
- Il prête de l’argent à son ami (He lends money to his friend) becomes – Il ne prete
pas d’argent à son ami (He doen’t lend money to his friend)
- Elle a des amis à Paris (She has friends in Paris) becomes – Elle n’a pas d’amis à Paris
(She doens’t have any friends in Paris)


However, there’s one exception to this rule and thats when we use the verb être(to be). In
the negative, the parative article is always used with être.
- C’est du fromage de chèvre = It’s goat cheese
- Ce n’est pas du fromage chèvre = It’s not goat cheese
- C’est du l’eau potable = It’s drinking water
- Ce n’est pas de l’eau = It’s not drinking water.
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