| WITH MASCULINE NOUN | WITH FEMININE NOUN | |
| Singular | Le (l’) | La (l’) |
| Plural | Les | les |
Le and la change to l’ when there are used in front of a word starting with a vowel and most words starting with h.
- Le is used in front of masculine singular nous.
Le roi – the king
Le chien – the dog
Le jardin – the garden
- La is used in fron or feminine
L’ami (masculine) the friend
L’eau (feminine) the water
L’etage (masculine) the floor
note that l’ is also used in front of most words starting with h but some others take le or la instead
l’ hopita – the hospital
le hamster – the hamster
a hi-fi – the stereo
Note:
It is a good idea to learn the article or the gender with the noun when you come across a word for the first time, so that you know whether it is masculine or feminine. A good dictionary will also give you this information.
- Les is used in front of plural nouns whether they are masculine or feminine and whatever letter they start with.
Les chines – the dogs
Les portes – the doors
Les amis – the friends
Les hotels – the hotels
Using a with le, la l’ and les
- The French word a is translated into English in several different ways including at or to. There are special rules when you use it together with le and les
- When a’ is followed by le, the two words become au.
Au cinema – to/at the cinema
Aux professeurs – to the teachers
- When a’ is followed by les, the two words become aux
Aux maisons – to the house
Aux etudiants – to the students
- When a’ is followed by la or l’, the words do not change.
a’ la bibliotheque – to/at the library
a’ l’ hotel – to/at the hotel
DEVOIR
Ecrivez 10 noms avec le et la
a’ + le = au
a’ + les = aux
de + le = du
de + les = des
See also