How French works
The articles are words such as le or une used before a noun to give information about its scope of reference (i.e. whether the noun referred to is specific or non-specific, a part or whole of a category, and so on). In French there are 3 types of article:
Singular: un, une
Plural: des
Un and une can also function as numerical adjective:
Ce livre a deux cent vingt et une pages
This book has two hundred and twenty-one pages
Singular: le, la
Plural: les
de + le contracts to du, à + le to au
de + les contracts to des, à + les to aux
Singular: du, de l', de la
No plural
The definite article in French has two main uses:
Equivalent of English the, making it clear that the noun refers to a particular thing. For example:
Les jeunes gens interrogés se sont dits prêts à accepter des heures de travail plus flexibles
The young people interviewed said they were prepared to accept more flexible working hours
It shows that the noun is being used in a general sense to mean the whole of its class or type. English generally does not use the in this context, but instead the zero article (ø), i.e. no article at all. For example:
Les jeunes gens sont souvent prêts à accepter des conditions de travail plus flexibles
(Ø) Young people are often prepared to accept more flexible working hours
The definite article is present before names of languages:
Le français est une langue difficile
French is a difficult language
Je connais bien le russe
I have a good knowledge of Russian
But after the verb parler there is no article unless there is an adverb between parler and the language:
Je parle français
I speak French
Je ne parle pas le français
I don't speak French
Je parle courament le français
I speak French fluently
The definite article is used before ranks and titles:
la reine Elisabeth, le cardinal Richelieu, le docteur Finlay, le père Ryan
Queen Elizabeth, Cardinal Richelieu, Doctor Finlay, Father Ryan
An exception is made after the religious titles mère, frère and soeur:
mère Teresa, frère Jacques
Mother Theresa, Brother Jacques
The definite article is normally used with names of continents, countries, mountains, rivers etc.:
l’Afrique, la France, le Mont Blanc, la Tamise
Africa, France, Mont Blanc, the Thames
When in English the prepositions to, from, in are used, the rules are as follows. With feminine singular names, to or in are translated by en, and from is translated by de. No article is present.
Cet été nous sommes allés en France
This summer we went to France
Quand est-ce qu'elle revient de France?
When does she get back from France?
With masculine or plural names, to or in are translated by à, and from is translated by de. An article is always present.
Cet été nous sommes allés au Canada
This summer we went to Canada
Quand est-ce qu'elle revient du Canada?
When does she get back from Canada?
Note that in titles, or other expressions where the name of a country etc. has the function of an adjective , de alone is used:
la Banque d’Angleterre, le roi de France, les vins d’Australie
the Bank of England, the King of France, the wines of Australia
But when one is focusing on the political or geographical aspects of a country etc., de plus the definite article is used:
Manchester se situe dans l'une des plus grandes régions industrielles de l’Angleterre
Manchester is situated in one of England's biggest industrial regions
Towns do not have a definite article (Je vais à Paris) unless they are qualified by an adjective (le Paris moderne) or an article is part of the name as with Le Havre, Le Mans, Le Caire (Cairo), Le Cap (Cape Town). Where the article is masculine , there is the usual contraction of à / de with the le - (Je vais au Havre).
The definite article is used before days of the week for habitual actions:
J’y vais le samedi mais non le lundi
I go on Saturdays but not on Mondays
but not for specific actions:
J'y vais samedi mais non lundi
I'm going on Saturday but not on Monday
The definite article is used before a number of expressions of time. In times of the day or the year:
le soir
in the evening
la semaine dernière
last week
le mois prochain
next month
And in dates:
Nous sommes arrivés le 1er octobre
We arrived on 1st October
Nous sommes arrivés lundi le 1er octobre / le lundi 1er octobre
We arrived on Monday 1st October
The definite article is normally used before names of seasons, which are all masculine nouns . Note, however, au printemps, en été, en automne, en hiver.
When expressing the idea of playing a musical instrument, French uses the verb jouer with the preposition de plus the definite article . English, by contrast, uses the definite article without a preposition:
jouer du piano
to play the piano
When expressing the idea of playing a sport or game, French uses the verb jouer with the preposition à plus the definite article . English, by contrast, has no article or preposition:
jouer au football / aux échecs
to play (ø) football / chess
When jouer is used in the sense of putting on an act it is often followed by a plural noun, where English would use a singular noun or an adjective :
jouer les imbéciles / les innocents / les héros
to play dumb / innocent / the hero
The definite article is used before nouns referring to parts of the body in the following cases:
When it is clear from the context that the subject is the possessor of the part of the body:
Elle ferma les yeux pour mieux se concentrer
She closed her eyes to concentrate better
Elle marchait les yeux fermés
She was walking with her eyes shut
Il se tenait debout, les mains dans les poches
He was standing with his hands in his pocket
When the possessor is indicated by means of a pronominal (reflexive) verb. Pronominal verbs are used when indicating action done to one’s own body:
Je me suis lavé les dents avant d’aller me coucher
I brushed my teeth before going to bed
When the possessor is indicated by means of an indirect object . This is used when indicating action done to another person:
Accidentellement, je lui ai marché sur le pied
I accidentally stood on his / her foot
Note, however, that the definite article (or an indirect object ) is not so used if the part of the body is qualified by an adjective :
Accidentellement, j’ai marché sur son pied blessé
I accidentally stood on his / her injured foot
The definite article is used with the preposition à to convey a more or less permanent characteristic by which a person or thing may be recognized:
L'homme à la moustache noire
The man with the black moustache
La maison aux volets verts
The house with green shutters
Remember l’ is used in front of an unaspirated H (that is where H is treated like a vowel) : l'heure, l'histoire etc. But le, la is used in front of an aspirated H (where H is pronounced as in English, only without an audible release of breath): la hache.
Un, une are generally used in the same way as their English equivalents a, an: they refer to an item in a category that has not been specified. Take, for example, the following sentences:
Il faut choisir un jour où Marie est disponible
We must choose a day when Marie is available
Va lui chercher une chaise de l'autre salle
Go and get him / her a chair from the other room
In the first example the indefinite article indicates to the reader that the day in question is not a specific day, but any day when Marie is available; and in the second it indicates that the chair in question any chair that is in the other room.
The indefinite article can also be used to refer to specific items that are qualified by a describing word or phrase. For example:
C'était une journée mouvementée
It was an eventful day
C’est une chaise ancienne
It's an antique chair
The indefinite article is used when referring to a noun in a general sense to mean the whole of its class or type (it is often interchangeable with the definite article - see 2.1.2 above):
Une jeune personne est souvent prête à accepter des conditions de travail plus flexibles
A young person is often prepared to accept more flexible working hours
French also uses un, une when an abstract noun is qualified by an adjective , and where English would often use the zero article:
Elle a fait preuve d'un courage extraordinaire
She showed (ø) extraordinary courage
C'est une ville d'une beauté étonnante
It's a town of (ø) astonishing beauty
Des is the plural form of the indefinite article :
Le 12 est un jour où Marie est disponible
The 12th is a day when Marie is available
Le 12 et le 15 sont des jours où Marie est disponible
The 12th and the 15th are (ø) days when Marie is available
Given that des and les can both be translated by no article in English, it can be confusing for English speakers to know which to use. Often it is possible to transfer a given phrase into the singular (if it would take un, then it is indefinite) or else to imagine the "zero" article in English being replaced by some. For example:
They're (some) filterless cigarettes [singular: It's a filterless cigarette]
Ce sont des cigarettes sans filtre
This might be compared with the sentence Ce sont les cigarettes sans filtre qui nuisent le plus à la santé which clearly refers to cigarettes in general.
Sometimes, however, these devices are not conclusive, and it is necessary to work out the exact nature of the zero article's scope of reference. For example:
The Government has taken measures aimed at training (ø) young people better
Le gouvernement a pris des mesures destinées à mieux former les jeunes gens
According to the Minister, the measures would help produce (ø) well-trained young people
Selon le ministre, les mesures permettraient d'engendrer des jeunes gens bien formés
The les in the first sentence is used because the young people refers to the whole of its class, i.e. "young people in general", the use of the definite article set out in 2.1.2 above. The des in the second sentence is used because the young people refers to an unspecified part of its class rather than the whole, i.e."some well-trained young people".
The partitive article du, de la (both forms contracted to de l' in front of a vowel) is used before nouns that cannot be counted or that indicate an undetermined quantity. It is usually translated by the zero article (ø) in English, but can be translated by some (see 36:1.1.1) or in questions or after negatives by any (see 36:7.1.1). For example:
Pour faire le gâteau, il faut du beurre, du sucre et de la farine
To make the cake you need (ø) butter, (ø) sugar and (ø) flour
Il faut du courage pour être alpiniste
It takes (ø) courage to be a mountaineer
Note that the partitive article is often used with faire when refering to activities:
faire du sport, faire du théâtre, faire du jogging
to do (ø) sport, to do (ø) theatre, to do (ø) jogging