Definite and Indefinite Articles

Definite articles Definite articles are those articles which refer to a specific item or noun. It can be any item. It has to be a specific one. In French, the definite articles you have learned so far are le, la, les, l’, ce, cet, cette, ces.

Indefinite articles Indefinite articles are articles that do not specify a specific item. It can be any of a group. In French the indefinite articles you have learned are un, une, and des.

Le, la, les, l’ You already know about le, la, les, and l’. By definition they are equivalent to “the” in English. Le, la, les and l’ are definite articles. They refer to one and only one item. A specific thing. Le stylo. THE pen. Not that pen, not a pen. THE pen.

Ce, cet, cette, ces When dealing with ce, cet, cette, and ces we are talking about THIS one. Ce weekend… THIS weekend. Not next weekend, not last weekend, not a weekend sometime. These words are technically demonstrative adjectives and not definite pronouns but… you get the idea.

Ce, cet, cette ces Ce, cet, and cette means this or that. Ces means these or those. SingularPlural Masc. before a consonant sound Ce styloCes stylos Masculine before a vowel sound Cet examenCes examens FeminineCette écoleCes écoles

Specification When you want to specify that as opposed to this, add –là (there) to the end of the noun. – J’aime ce sac. – Moi, j’aime mieux ce sac-là

Un, une, and des This is your indefinite article. It mean a/an/or some. I need un classeur. I don’t care which one, as long as I have one.

Un, une, and des The article un/une both mean a or an. Use un with masculine nouns and une with feminine nouns. Use des (some) with plural nouns. Notice that un, une and des change to de after ne…pas. J’ai un crayon, mais je n’ai pas de papier. Nous avons des règles, mais nous n’avons pas de stylo.

In Class Activity Pg 95 in textbook Activity 6