1.02:_Noms__Articles

<p>A <strong>noun</strong> is a word that can be the name of a person, an animal, place, thing, event, or an idea. Example: professor, dog, Paris, lamp, marriage, poverty</p>

<span id="Masculine_.2F_Feminine"></span><h3><strong>Masculine / Feminine</strong></h3>

<p>Nouns in French have a gender. They can be masculine or feminine. If you&rsquo;ve studied something like Spanish, German, or even Arabic, you&rsquo;ll know that gender is very much a thing.</p>

<p>The gender of a word in French can sometimes be identified by its ending. The best place to start with this rule is that most feminine nouns in French end in &lsquo;<strong>e</strong>&rsquo;.</p>

<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNXIcNL0Q10" target="_blank" rel="external noopener nofollow" class="link-https">YouTube : Understand gender in French</a></strong></p>

<span id="Singular_.2F_Plural"></span><h3><strong>Singular / Plural</strong></h3>

<p>As well as being masculine or feminine, a French noun will also be singular or plural. When a word refers ton one person or thing, it is said to be <strong>singular</strong>; when it refers to more than one, it is <strong>plural</strong>. Here, the French language is very similar to English in that &ldquo;-<strong>s</strong>&rdquo; is a common way of making a noun plural. Note, however, that the s is not pronounced.</p>

<p>Then you have the exceptions, which tend to follow a few guidelines. The noun endings influence how a plural form is constructed:</p>

<p>Most nouns ending in &ndash;<strong>eau</strong> or -eu add an &ndash;<strong>x</strong> in the plural.</p>

<table class="mt-responsive-table">
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td class="mt-noheading"><strong>Singular</strong></td>
            <td class="mt-noheading"><strong>Plural</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="mt-noheading">chap<strong>eau</strong></td>
            <td class="mt-noheading">chap<strong>eaux</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="mt-noheading">j<strong>eu</strong></td>
            <td class="mt-noheading">j<strong>eux</strong></td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<span id="What_are_articles.3F"></span><h2>What are articles?</h2>

<p>An <strong>article</strong> is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun refers to a particular person, animal, place, thing, event, or idea, or whether the noun refers to an unspecified person, thing, or idea. Articles are words such as &lsquo;the&rsquo;, &lsquo;a&rsquo; and &lsquo;an&rsquo;.</p>

<p>Example:</p>

<ul>
    <li>I have <strong>the</strong> dictionary &gt; a specified dictionary</li>
    <li>I have <strong>a</strong> dictionary &gt; an unspecified dictionary</li>
</ul>

<span id="Definite_Articles_.2F_Indefinite_Articles"></span><h3><strong>Definite Articles / Indefinite Articles</strong></h3>

<p>The <strong>definite articles</strong> indicates that the speaker is referring to either a specific noun or to a class of nouns in a general sense. The English definite article, <b>the</b>, has four equivalent forms in French: <strong>la, le, l&rsquo; </strong>and <strong>les,</strong> depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.</p>

<p>Please note, <strong>le</strong> or <strong>la </strong>change to <strong>l&rsquo; </strong>before a noun beginning in a vowel or an h (the h is silent in French).</p>

<table class="mt-responsive-table">
    <caption>Examples</caption>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th class="mt-column-width-15" scope="col">Gender</th>
            <th class="mt-column-width-15" scope="col">Singular</th>
            <th class="mt-column-width-20" scope="col">Plural</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th class="mt-column-width-15" data-th="Gender" scope="row">Masculine</th>
            <td class="mt-column-width-15" data-th="Singular"><span>le livre</span>
            <p>l&rsquo;&eacute;tudiant</p>
            </td>
            <td class="mt-column-width-20" data-th="Plural"><span>les livres</span>
            <p>les &eacute;tudiants</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th class="mt-column-width-15" data-th="Gender" scope="row">Feminine</th>
            <td class="mt-column-width-15" data-th="Singular"><span>la classe</span>
            <p>l&rsquo;&eacute;tudiante</p>
            </td>
            <td class="mt-column-width-20" data-th="Plural"><span>les classes</span>
            <p>les &eacute;tudiantes</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>The <strong>indefinite article</strong> indicates that the speaker is referring to either an unspecific noun or to one/some of something. In English we have the indefinite article <span class="italic"><b>a</b> and </span><strong><span class="italic">an</span></strong>. In the plural we say either<strong><span class="italic">some</span></strong>, <strong><span class="italic">any</span></strong> or nothing at all. In French, you choose from <strong><span class="bold color">un</span></strong>, <strong><span class="bold color">une</span></strong> and <strong><span class="bold color">des</span></strong>, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and singular or plural.</p>

<table class="mt-responsive-table">
    <caption> </caption>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th scope="col"><strong>Gender</strong></th>
            <th scope="col"><strong>Singular</strong></th>
            <th scope="col"><strong>Plural</strong></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th data-th="Gender" scope="row">Masculine</th>
            <td data-th="Singular"><span>un livre</span></td>
            <td data-th="Plural"><span>des livres</span></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th data-th="Gender" scope="row">Feminine</th>
            <td data-th="Singular"><span>une craie</span></td>
            <td data-th="Plural"><span>des craies</span></td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7_4sZ3ZInA&amp;t=113s" target="_blank" rel="external noopener nofollow" class="link-https">YouTube: Articles in French</a></strong></p>

<p><strong>Tip:</strong> When learning new vocabulary, make your vocabulary lists with a definite or indefinite article for each noun. This will help you learn the gender of each noun along with the word itself</p>

Reset