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What are articles?

Just like in English, French has indefinite and definite articles that come before a noun - for example, a or the.

In French, these articles can either be singular or plural and masculine or feminine depending on the noun.

Learn about indefinite and definite articles in French with Burt Bessington

Indefinite articles in French

We use indefinite articles before the noun when we are talking about something that's not specific. It's the same as using a, an or some in English, for example, a sandwich.

In French, nouns can be masculine or feminine, so if we want to say a, we use either for masculine nouns or for feminine nouns.

Here are some examples:

Masculine nounsEnglishFeminine nounsEnglish
a boata television
a computera tablet computer
Burt Bessington

Definite articles in French

The definite article is used when we are talking about a specific noun. It is the same as saying the in English, for example, the cat.

To say the in French, there are a few different words depending on the noun:

  • is for masculine nouns
  • is for feminine nouns
  • is for masculine or feminine nouns that begin with a vowel or some words that begin with a h
  • is for plural nouns - when there is more than one item

Here are some examples:

Noun typeFrenchEnglish
Masculinethe boat
Femininethe tablet computer
Before a vowel or hthe computer
Pluralthe sunflowers
Burt Bessington
Burt and the workman standing behind bins labelled with indefinite and definite articles
Burt Bessington

How do you form plurals in French?

In English, if there is more than one thing, we normally add s to the end of a regular noun to make it plural. For example:

  • one car
  • two cars

In French, we also add s to most nouns to make them plural.

  • 鈥 the tablet computer
  • 鈥 the tablet computers

If a noun ends in -s, -x or -z, it stays the same when there is more than one.

  • 鈥 the nose
  • 鈥 the noses

If a word ends in 鈥揳濒, you normally take off the l and add ux to make it plural:鈥

  • 鈥 the animal
  • 鈥 the animals

Words ending in -eau and -eu have an x at the end when they become plural:鈥

SingularEnglishPluralEnglish
the boatthe boats
the gamethe games
Burt Bessington
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Key French words

FrenchEnglish
the animal
a boat
the game
the mirror
the nose
the computer
the tablet computer
a television
the sunflowers

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