French articles and determiners


In French, articles and determiners are required on almost every common noun, much more so than in English. They are inflected to agree in gender and number with the noun they determine, though most have only one plural form. Many also often change pronunciation when the word that follows them begins with a vowel sound.
While articles are actually a subclass of determiners, they are generally treated separately; thus, they are treated separately here as well.

Articles

French has three articles: a definite article, corresponding in many cases to English the; an indefinite article, corresponding to English a/an; and a partitive article, used roughly like some in English.

Definite article

The French definite article derives from a Latin distal demonstrative, ille. It evolved from the Old French article system, which shared resemblance to modern English and acquired the marking of generic nouns. This practise was common by the 17th century, although it has been argued that this became widely used as early as in the 13th century. In French, the definite article is analogous to the English definite article the, although they are sometimes omitted in English. The French definite article can vary according to the gender and number of the noun. The definite article takes the following forms:
The prepositions à and de form contracted forms with the masculine and plural articles le and les: au, du, aux, and des, respectively.
Like the, the French definite article is used with a noun referring to a specific item when both the speaker and the audience know what the item is. It is necessary in the following cases:
UseExample
General categories and abstractionsLa patience est une vertu.
Patience is a virtue.
Name and adjective clustersLe vieux Londres est fascinant.
Old London is fascinating.
Languages and academic subjectsJe comprends l’allemand.
I understand German.
CountriesJe veux visiter la France.
I want to visit France.
SeasonsLe printemps est ma saison favorite.
Spring is my favourite season.
Titles, family namesVoici les Moreau.
Here are the Moreaus.
Parts of the bodyIl se lave les mains.
He washes his hands.
DaysJe sors le vendredi soir.
I go out every Friday night.

Unlike the, the French definite article is also used with mass nouns and plural nouns with generic interpretation, and with abstract nouns. For example:
The French indefinite article is analogous to the English indefinite article a/an. Like a/an, the French indefinite article is used with a noun referring to a non-specific item, or to a specific item when the speaker and audience do not both know what the item is; so, « J'ai cassé une chaise rouge ». Unlike a/an, the French indefinite article has a plural form, often translated as some but usually simply omitted in English; so, « Il y a des livres là-bas ».
The indefinite article takes the following forms:
singularplural
masculineundes
feminineunedes

  1. The indefinite article becomes de after a negative verb other than être: « Je n'ai pas de livre ». This use is related to expressions of quantity; see [|below].
  2. The plural form des is normally reduced to de when it applies to a noun preceded by an adjective: « de nombreux livres » , « d'autres livres » ', but « des livres reliés » '.
  3. Unlike in English the article is dropped when specifying someone's occupation: « Ma sœur est avocat. ».

    Partitive article

The French partitive article is often translated as some, but often simply omitted in English. It is used to indicate an indefinite portion of something uncountable, or an indefinite number of something countable: « J'ai du café ».
The partitive article takes the following forms:
  1. Like the indefinite article, the partitive article becomes de after a negative verb other than être and before a plural noun preceded by an adjective: « Il prend de l'eau ».
Notice that, except after a negative verb, the partitive article is formed by combining the preposition de with the definite article. Also note that in the plural, and after a negative verb, the indefinite and partitive articles take the same form; this makes sense, as there is no clear difference in meaning in these cases.

Determiners

, like other adjectives, agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

Possessive determiners

The possessive determiners are used to indicate the possessor of the noun they determine. They lexically mark the person and number of the possessor, and are inflected to agree with their noun in gender and number. While English distinguishes between masculine and feminine singular possessors, French does not. As in English, possessive determiners do not necessarily express true possession in the sense of ownership.
Their forms are as follows:

Demonstrative determiners

The demonstrative determiners can mean either this or that, these or those. To be more precise or to avoid ambiguity, -ci or -là can be inserted after the noun:
There are grammatical rules to determine when one would use c'est or il est. For example, c'est is followed by a noun that may or may not be modified by an adjective, while il est can only be used with an adjective that describes the specific noun. Example:
Because tenus is a past participle used as an adjective, ils sont is used; but since bals is a noun, ce sont'' is used.

Interrogative determiners

The interrogative determiner quel means which or what. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies:
singularplural
masculinequelquels
femininequellequelles

Examples: quel train, quelle chaise, quels hommes, and quelles classes.
Quel can be used as an exclamation.
A quantifier is a determiner that quantifies its noun, like English "some" and "many". In French, as in English, quantifiers constitute an open word class, unlike most other kinds of determiners. In French, most quantifiers are formed using a noun or adverb of quantity and the preposition de.
Quantifiers formed with a noun of quantity and the preposition de include the following:
Quantifiers formed with an adverb of quantity and the preposition de include the following:
Other quantifiers include: