le, la, les — un, une, des (the, a, some)
Gender, plurals, and l' before a vowel.
15 minutes · A free lesson from A1 : Premiers pas (first steps) · Roman and Urdu pronunciation guides and English meanings are shown under each phrase
Every French noun is masculine or feminine. Learn each noun with its article: not livre but le livre.
| livre | Say leevr | لیوغ | Means: book |
| le livre | Say luh leevr | لَ لیوغ | Means: the book |
| masculine | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| the | le (l')Say: luhلَMeans: the (masculine; l' before a vowel) | la (l')Say: laلاMeans: the (feminine; l' before a vowel) | lesSay: lehلےMeans: the (plural); them |
| a / some | unSay: uh(n)اَںMeans: a, one (masculine) | uneSay: uenایُنMeans: a, one (feminine) | desSay: dehدےMeans: some (plural) |
Before a vowel or a silent h, le and la become l': l'ami, l'école, l'hôtel.
| le | Say luh | لَ | Means: the (masculine); him, it |
| la | Say la | لا | Means: the (feminine); her, it |
| l'ami, l'école, l'hôtel | Say lamee, lehkol, lohtehl | لامی, لےکول, لوتےل | Means: the friend, the school, the hotel |
Lesson quiz
Check what you have learned. Choose an answer to see whether it is right, and why.
Quick check: Which is right before a vowel?
- la école
- le école
- l'école
Show the answer
C: l'école — Before a vowel or a silent h, le and la become l': l'école, l'ami, l'hôtel.
Quick check: Which article goes with “fromage”?
- la
- le
- les
Show the answer
B: le — Nouns ending in -age are usually masculine: le fromage.
Quick check: Which gender are nouns ending in -tion usually?
- Feminine
- Masculine
- Neuter
Show the answer
A: Feminine — Nouns ending in -tion, -sion, -té and -ette are usually feminine: la nation. French has no neuter.
Quick check: Which means “some books”?
- le livre
- un livre
- des livres
Show the answer
C: des livres — des is the plural of un and une: des livres. le livre is the book, and un livre is a book.
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