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Gender and the article: le, la, l', un, une

CEFR A1

What you will learn

  • Choose a definite or indefinite article according to gender, number and communicative context.
  • Apply elision before a vowel or mute h while keeping track of the noun’s gender.

Before you start

  • Recognise a noun and distinguish singular from plural.

The idea

French nouns have masculine or feminine gender; it cannot be guessed from meaning alone and, in regular cases, before a vowel both “le” and “la” become “l'”.

French nouns have grammatical gender. English does not mark nouns in the same way, so the article must be learned with the noun: “le livre”, “la table”, “l’ami”, “l’amie”.

So the word is learnt with its article attached. Not “table = table”, but “table = une table”. The article is not decoration added later: it is part of what has to be memorised, like the spelling.

For this first contrast, we use two series. The definite series —“le”, “la”, “les”— usually points to something identified. The indefinite series —“un”, “une”, “des”— usually introduces something not yet identified. In the plural, “les” covers both genders, and so does “des”: the plural article does not distinguish them.

In the regular cases covered here, before a vowel or a mute “h”, “le” and “la” both become “l'”. “L'ami”, “l'amie”, “l'hôtel”, “l'heure”. At that point the article stops showing gender, which is why it pays to have learnt it beforehand.

Endings give hints, not certainties. Words in “-tion”, “-té” and “-ette” tend to be feminine; those in “-age”, “-ment” and “-eau” tend to be masculine. Use them to guess, not to stop learning the article.

Articles by gender and number

nombredéfiniindéfini
masculin singulierle / l'un
féminin singulierla / l'une
pluriellesdes

How it sounds

  • Le livre est sur la table.Two different genders in one short sentence: “livre” masculine, “table” feminine.
  • L'ami de Marie et l'amie de Paul.The same “l'” for both, and only the final “-e” tells them apart.
  • J'ai un frère et une sœur.The indefinite series introduces: it is the first mention of them.
  • Les enfants jouent dans le jardin.“Les” covers masculine and feminine: the plural makes no gender distinction.
  • La mer est calme ce matin.“La mer” is feminine, and there is nothing in English to warn you either way.
Four separate objects: a blue book, a wooden table, a milk bottle and a red flower in a vase.
Learn each French noun together with its article. The exercises use the image to distinguish introducing an object from pointing to one already identified.

Choose the article and justify it

View the illustration

Complete each sentence and choose the reason for the article.

Dans mon sac, il y a ___ livre.
Regarde cette bouteille de lait. ___ bouteille est sur la table.
Tu vois ces livres bleus ? ___ livres sont sur la table.

Answer available without interaction

Answer: Dans mon sac, il y a ___ livre. → un (new referent, masculine singular); Regarde cette bouteille de lait. ___ bouteille est sur la table. → la (identified referent, feminine singular); Tu vois ces livres bleus ? ___ livres sont sur la table. → les (identified referent, plural)

A new referent takes the indefinite series; an identified one takes the definite series. Gender and number select the form within that series.

Apply elision without losing track of gender

An aircraft has already been identified. Choose the form that completes ‘Voici cet avion. ___ avion est prêt.’ and the correct reason.

Choose an answer

Answer available without interaction

Answer: L’avion — It is definite, masculine and begins with a vowel, so le is elided.

Avion is masculine, but definite le is elided before a: l’avion.

When it doesn't hold

What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.

  • The aspirate “h” blocks elision, and nothing in the sound tells you which is which: it is learnt word by word.le héros, la hauteur, le hasard
  • A handful of words change gender and meaning at the same time.le livre / la livre, le tour / la tour
  • In ordinary verbal negation expressing zero quantity, “un”, “une” and “des” usually become “de”; “être” and explicit contrasts create exceptions.Je n'ai pas de frère.
  • With an unmodified job used as a subject complement, French usually omits the article after “être”.Elle est médecin.

What your own language pushes you to say

Wrong Le table est grande.

Right La table est grande.

English gives you no noun article that reveals gender, so defaulting to one French article is unreliable. Learn the noun and article together, especially for frequent everyday vocabulary.

Challenge: introduce and refer back

Complete the text: ‘Voici ___ école et ___ jardin. ___ école ouvre à huit heures ; ___ jardin ferme à six heures.’

Answer available without interaction
  • Complete all four gaps and check the function of each mention.
  • The articles preserve the gender of both nouns.
  • Check spelling at the start of each noun without changing its referent.

Answer: une · un · l’ · le

Une école and un jardin introduce them. They are then identified: la is elided before école, while le remains before jardin.

Curriculum alignment and sources

Continue along this corridor

Practise this: Gender that does not match your languageThe present tense and the explicit subjectTwo-part negation: ne… pas wraps around the verbAccents and the cedilla: they do not tell you where the stress fallsDu, de la, des: the article your language leaves outAu, aux, du, des: when à and de collide with the articleThe passé composé: two pieces and an auxiliary you have to choose