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A definite article is a small tool word that always comes before a noun. It indicates the gender and number of the noun. Whereas in English there is only one definite article (the), in French, there are three (le, la, les), depending on if the word is masculine, feminine or plural.
Le chat dort. (The cat is sleeping)*Le chat is a masculine noun.La souris se cache. (The mouse is hiding)*La souris is a feminine noun.Les chiens aboient. (The dogs are barking)*Les chiens is a masculine noun... but in this case, it doesn't matter ! What matters is that there are many dogs.• We use a definite article when the noun refers to someone or something clearly identified, which we have already talked about.
Regarde le lapin. (Look at the rabbit)*we are talking about one specific rabbit.La ville. (The city)*we are talking about one specific city.• Be careful! When a singular noun begins with a vowel or a silent h, we use l'.
L’arbre. (the tree)L’hôpital (the hospital)L’animal (the animal) *Always remember : in french the small tool words tend to be contracted in order to smoothen the prononciation.• Les is used for plural nouns, masculine or feminine. The gender doesn't matter in this case.
La maison, les maisons. (the house, the houses)Le jardin, les jardins. (the garden, the gardens) *Don't forget it : when a noun is plural, it takes a silent -s marker at the end. Forgetting this poor silent -s is one of the most common mistakes among french speakers (natives or not!).• When a plural noun begins with a vowel or a silent h, you must make the connection (liaison) between les and the noun by pronouncing the [z] sound (like in bees).
Les‿amis (the friends)Les‿autres (the others)Les‿enfants (the children) * The liaison is a whole fascinating topic in French phonetics. None the less, remember that a tool word always needs the liaison with the main word it goes with, like if it were almost part of the main word.Google Sites
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