Lesson 1: Articles, the letter H, liaison

Definite articles (the)

Masculin Féminin
Singulier (consonne) Le Le train La La voiture
The train The car
Singulier (voyelle) L’ L’avion L’ L’autoroute
The plane The motorway
Pluriel Les Les billets Les Les rues
The tickets The streets

In French, the definite article is used a lot more than it is used in English and nouns almost
ALWAYS need to be preceded by an article:

The woman is called Lisa = La femme s’appelle Lisa

I like football ≠ J’aime le foot

Indefinite articles (a, an, some)

Masculin Féminin
Singulier (consonne) Un Un repas Une Une chaise
A meal A chair
Singulier (voyelle) Un Un œuf Une Une assiette
An egg A plate
Pluriel Des Des couteaux Des Des fourchettes
Some Knives Some forks

Exercise

____ voiture est dans ____ parking ____ vin est dans ____ verre
The car is in the car park The wine is in a glass

Il y a ____ gens dans ____ restaurant ____ pâtes sont sur ____ assiette
There are some people in the restaurant The pasta is on the plate

____ personne mange ____ frites Marie est sous ____ lit
A person is eating some chips Marie is under the bed

Il y a ____ église dans ____ ville ____ avion est à ____ aéroport
There is a church in the town The plane is at the airport

Il y a ____ arbre sur ____ colline Il y a ____ souris sous ____ chat
There is a tree on the hill There is a mouse under a cat
 Lesson 1: Articles, the letter H, liaison

La liaison

In French, when a word ends in a consonant, the final consonant sound is not pronounced.

Un pont Les lits Les frères Un calendrier Une maison

A bridge (The) beds (The) brothers A calendar A house

MOST COMMON EXCEPTIONS

Words ending in -eur
Une fleur, les fleurs A flower, (the) flowers L’instructeur (The) instructor
Un cœur A heart La peur (The) fear
Words ending in -our
La tour (The) tower Le four (The oven)
L’amour (The) love Pour For
Words ending in -oir
Un miroir A mirror Le tiroir (The) drawer
Noir Black Le soir (The) evening
Words ending in -ac
Un lac A lake Le sac (The) bag

Exercise: Pronounce the following words:

1. Le poisson 9. Les trains

(The) fish (The) trains
2. Un village 10. Le pain
A village (The) bread
3. Le chat 11. Les adultes
(The) cat (The) adults
4. Les étoiles 12. Un appartement
(The) stars A flat
5. Un jour 13. Un repas
A day A meal
6. Le cognac 14. Le restaurant
(The) cognac (The) restaurant
7. Un crayon 15. Les Italiens
A pencil (The) Italians
8. Le papier 16. L’acteur
(The) paper (The) actor

When using Les in front of a noun that starts with a vowel, the final S sound must be pronounced.
However, it must be pronounced as a Z in this instance. E.g. Les avions becomes “lez-avions”

Les animaux Les opinions Les assiettes Les autoroutes Les éclairs Les instructions
The animals The opinions The plates The motorways The eclairs The instructions

Similarly, when un comes before a vowel, the N sound must be pronounced.

The letter HUn animal Un avion Un opéra Un ennemi Un anglais Un article

An animal A plane An opera An enemy An Englishman An article
 Lesson 1: Articles, the letter H, liaison

The H sound that we make in English does not exist in French.

Homme Haricots Haine Homard Horloge Habiter

Man Beans Hate (nf) Lobster Clock To live

Depending on the word, the letter H can either be treated as a vowel or a consonant in French.

Vowel (Non-aspirate) Consonant (Aspirate)

L’homme La haine
L’horloge Le homard
L’horizon Le hamburger
L’hôtel Le haricot

As H can either act as a vowel sound or a consonant, and follows the corresponding liaison rules.

Les hôtels Les hommes Les horloges Les haricots Les homards Les hamburgers

Récapitulatif

Definite (the) and indefinite (a, an, some) articles in French vary depending on whether a
noun is masculine, feminine or plural (le, la, l’, les / un, une, des)

In general, if a word ends with a consonant in French, the final consonant sound is not
pronounced (this includes the s on plural nouns)

If an article ending in a consonant is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel, a liaison

must be made between the two words, and the last consonant of the article must be
pronounced.

The H sound in French is silent and can either act as a vowel or a consonant depending on
the word.