Nouns are the words that refer to people, places, things, ideas. All nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Definite (the) and indefinite articles (a/an) change depending on the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun. Both le and la become l’ before nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h. The preposition de (of) + the definite article is used to mean some.
Definite Articles
definite articles (the)
masculine singular : le / l’
feminine singular: la / l’
plural: les
- Le film est bon, mais le livre est meilleur.
The film is good but the book is better. - La maison est juste là, à la droite.
The house is right there, to the right. - L’école n’est pas loin de la gare.
The school isn’t far from the train station.
Indefinite Articles
indefinite articles (a/an)
masculine singular: un
feminine singular: une
- As-tu un billet ?
Do you have a ticket? - Ma copine a une nouvelle voiture.
My girlfriend has a new car.
Partitive
The partitive is some or any in English. It’s formed with the preposition de in French; remember that de + le = du.
partitive (some)
masculine singular : du / de l’
feminine singular: de la / de l’
plural: des
- Donne-moi du sucre.
Give me some sugar. - J’ai des amis qui habitent pas loin d’ici.
I have (some) friends who live not far from here. - Elle m’a donné de l’argent.
She gave me some money.
No Naked Nouns
French nouns almost always come with an article, partitive, possessive, or something else. Bare nouns (water, students, gold) are fine in English, but not in French with very few exceptions. So you’ll use le, la, l’, les, du, de la, de l’, and des in French in places where you wouldn’t use the or some in English.
- Je bois de l’eau. (NOT:
Je bois eau.)
I’m drinking water. I’m drinking some water. - Je mange de la salade. (NOT:
Je mange salade.)
I’m eating salad. - As-tu de l’argent ? (NOT:
As-tu argent ?)
Do you have money? - Elle aime la musique coréenne. (NOT:
Elle aime musique coréenne.)
She likes Korean music.
Gender
Nouns referring to people or animals will follow biological gender.
masculine
le garçon (boy)
le taureau (bull)
l’ami (friend, m.)
feminine
la fille (girl)
la vache (cow)
l’amie (friend, f.)
Otherwise, the gender of nouns must be memorized. There are some patterns that can help. Generally, nouns ending in consonants or vowels other than –e are masculine. The endings –age and –ment are also typically masculine. Nouns ending in –e are often feminine, although there are plenty of exceptions. Other typically feminine endings are –tion, –son, and –té.
masculine
le travail (work)
le lait (milk)
le vélo (bike)
le menu (menu)
le gouvernement (government)
le sondage (poll)
feminine
la table (table)
la glace (ice cream)
la voiture (car)
la maison (house)
la conversation (conversation)
la liberté (freedom)
Plurals
To form plurals, most nouns simply add –s.
l’homme (man), les hommes (men)
la femme (woman), les femmes (women)
l’hôtel (hotel), les hôtels (hotels)
l’ordinateur (computer), les ordinateurs (computers)
Singular nouns that end in –s or –x don’t change in the plural, and singulars that end in –au or –eu take an –x instead of an –s. Nouns that end in –al or –ail in the singular end in –aux in the plural.
le fils (son), les fils (sons)
la voix (voice), les voix (voices)
le jeu (game), les jeux (games)
le bureau (office), les bureaux (offices)
le travail (work), les travaux (works)
A few nouns have irregular plurals
le ciel (sky), des ciels or des cieux (skies)
un œil (eye), deux yeux (two eyes)
le bœuf (ox, beef), des bœufs (oxen, don’t pronounce the f or s)
un œuf (egg), des œufs (eggs, don’t pronounce the f or s)
un os (bone), des os (bones, don’t pronounce the s)
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