French 1: Leçon 1A Nouns and Articles

Nouns and articles: Masculine Singular Masculine Plural A noun designates a person, place or thing. Nouns in French have a number (singular or plural) just like in English. French nouns ALSO have a gender (masculine or feminine.) Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Singular Feminine Plural Le café Les cafés La bibliothèque Les bibliothèques

Nouns and Articles Nouns that designate a male are usually masculine. Nouns that designate a female are usually feminine. Masculine L’acteur The actor L’ami The (male) friend Le chanteur The (male) singer L’étudiant The (male) student Le petit ami The boyfriend Feminine L’actrice The actress L’amie The (female) friend La chanteuse The (female) singer L’étudiante The (female) student La petite amie The girlfriend

Nouns and Articles Some nouns can be used to designate either a male or a female regardless of their grammatical gender. Le professeur the male or female teacher La personne the male or female person

Nouns and Articles Nouns for objects that have no natural gender can be either masculine or feminine. Masculine Le bureau The desk Le lycée The high school L’examen The test L’objet The object L’ordinateur The computer Le problème The problem Feminine La chose The thing La différence The difference La faculté The university, faculty La littérature The literature La sociologie Sociology l’université The university

Nouns and Articles You usually form the plural of a noun by adding –s, regardless of gender. In the case of words that end in –eau in the singular, add an –x to the end to form the plural. For nouns ending in –al, drop the –al and add –aux. Singular L’objet The object La télévision The television Le bureau The desk L’animal The animal Plural Les objets The objects Les télévisions The televisions Les bureaux The desks Les animaux The animals

Articles and Nouns If a group is made up of boys and girls, you refer to the group with a masculine plural noun. Les amisthe (male and female) friends Les étudiants the (male and female) students

Articles and Nouns In English, the definite article the never changes. However, in French the definite article changes form depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or plural. Singular noun beginning with consonant Singular noun beginning with vowel sound Plural noun Masculine Le tableau (the picture, board) L’ami (the [male] friend) Les cafés (the cafés) Feminine La librarie (the bookstore) L’université (the university) Les télévisions (the televisions)

Articles and nouns In English, the singular INDEFINITE article is a/an, and the plural is some. (Although some is often omitted in English, it cannot be omitted in French. Singular Plural Masculine Un instrument (an instrument) Des instruments (some instruments) Feminine Une table (a table) Des tables (some tables)

Use c’est followed by a singular article and noun or ce sont followed by a plural article and noun to identify people and objects. 10

Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est un café.

Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est une bibliothèque.

Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est une femme. C’est un homme. C’est un garçon. C’est une fille.

Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est une télévision. C’est un ordinateur. C’est un livre.