The Definite Article in French – ‘THE’
| Les Articles Définis | Definite Articles |
In French, nouns are either masculine (m.) or feminine (f.)
They accordingly take le for masculine
Each gender has its own article
| le | masculine singular, starts with a consonant |
| l’ | starts with a vowel, masculine or feminine |
| la | feminine singular, starts with a consonant |
| les | all plurals |
| le matin | les matins |
| l’hôtel | les hôtels |
| la fille | les filles |
| l’assiette | les assiettes |
Les is the plural article for both masculine and feminine nouns.
| les matins | the mornings |
| les femmes | the women |
When the noun begins with a vowel or a silent ‘h’, the le or la simply becomes l’.
| l’ombre | the shade |
| l’assiette | the bee |
| l’homme | the man |