For the purposes of this grammar, the term 'determiner' refers to three classes of items that modify nouns:
Each class functions in different (but sometimes overlapping) ways with the others to specify the status of the entity or concept referred to by the noun in the discourse.
Definite articles indicate that the entity/concept referred to by the noun is uniquely identifiable by both speaker and hearer. If you say Passe-moi la fourchette ‘Pass me the fork’, both speaker and hearer know that there is a unique, identifiable ‘fork’ in the context in which the conversation is taking place.
Indefinite articles are used with count nouns (bouteille ‘bottle’, billet ‘ticket’) and indicate that the entity/concept referred to by the noun is not sufficiently ‘known about’ or ‘specified’ to justify the definite article. If you say Passe-moi une fourchette ‘Pass me a fork’, this implies there is no uniquely identifiable ‘fork’ in the context of the conversation (perhaps because there are several of them).
Partitive articles (du, de la, des) serve the same function as indefinite articles, but are used with mass and abstract nouns: J’ai acheté du lait ‘I bought (some) milk’, Il faut avoir de la patience ‘You must have (some) patience’. The plural partitive article des is used with nouns that are mass or abstract by virtue of their meaning, but happen to be grammatically plural: des tripes (fpl) ‘tripe’, des cheveux (mpl) ‘hair’, des renseignements (mpl) ‘information’.
Demonstratives are the forms ce/cet, cette, ces ‘this/these, that/those’. They indicate that the noun is seen as ‘known about’ or ‘specified’ largely in contrast to another noun: Passe-moi cette fourchette ‘Pass me that fork (and not some other fork that might also be visible)’.
Possessives are forms like mon, son, votre ‘my, his/her, your’ that indicate that the noun is seen as belonging to someone.
All determiners have singular and plural forms, and in the singular have different forms depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
TABLE 2.A Summary table of articles
| Definite | Indefinite | Partitive | ||
| masc | le, l' the | une a | du, de l' | some/no article |
| fem | la, l' the | une a | de la, de l' | some/no article |
| plur | les the | des | some/no article | |
le and la are shortened to l’, and du and de la become de l’ if they immediately precede an adjective or noun beginning with a vowel:
| l'univers (m) | the universe |
| l'électricité (f) | electricity |
| de l'acier (m) | steel |
| de l'eau (f) | water |
| l'ancien régime (m) | the Ancien Regime |
They also behave in the same way when they immediately precede an adjective or noun beginning with a so-called ‘silent h’ or h muet. This is a written h which has no counterpart in the spoken language:
| l'hiver (m) | winter |
| l'histoire (f) | history |
| de l'héroïsme (m) | heroism |
| de l'herbe (f) | grass |
| l'horrible silence (m) | the terrible silence |
There is also another set of adjectives and nouns beginning with a written h which do have a counterpart in the spoken language. This is misleadingly called an ‘aspirate h’ or h aspiré. It is misleading because there is no ‘h’ sound in spoken French. Rather, words which begin with an ‘aspirate h’ in written French also happen to block reduction of the article to l’ or de l’ in spoken French:
| le hibou (m) | the owl |
| la haine (f) | hate |
| du hachis (m) | minced beef |
| de la honte | shame |
| la haute montagne | high up in the mountains |
There is no easy way to distinguish adjectives and nouns which begin with a silent h from those which begin with an aspirate h. Some cases are idiosyn cratic. For example, héros ‘hero’ does not allow contraction of the article: le héros; but héroïne ‘heroine or heroin’ and héroïsme ‘heroism’ do: l’héroïne, l’héroïsme. Many dictionaries indicate an aspirate h by putting [’] at the beginning of the phonetic transcription of the word. For example:
| hibou ['ibu] (m) | owl |
| histoire [istwar] (f) | story, history |
The final consonant of les and des is pronounced [z] when they immediately precede an adjective or a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h:
| les [z] enfants | children | BUT | les hérissons | hedgehogs |
| des [z] amis | friends | BUT | des haricots | beans |
| des [z] héroénes | heroines | BUT | des héros | heroes |
The final n of un is pronounced when un immediately precedes an adjective or noun beginning with a vowel or silent h, but not otherwise:
| un [n] hôtel | a hotel | BUT | un homard | a lobster |
| un [n] honnête homme | a decent man | BUT | un haut fonctionnaire | a senior civil servant |
NB: Verbs beginning with an h in the written language also divide into those which require contraction of je, me, le, la, ne, etc., and those which do not:
| J'habite Londres | I live in London |
| Je hais Londres | I hate London |
| Je l'héberge | I am letting her (or him) stay with me |
| Je la heurte dans son orgueil | I hurt her pride |
(a) One use of the definite article indicates that the entity or concept referred to by the noun it accompanies is already known from the context:
Since French and English are similar in this use of definite articles, a fairly reliable guide is: if English uses a definite article, use one in French.
(b) A second ‘generic’ use is to indicate that the noun refers to a general class of phenomena, a unique phenomenon or an abstract quality:
The generic use of definite articles with count plural nouns (les filles ‘girls’, les médecins ‘doctors’) or with singular mass or abstract nouns (le lait ‘milk’, la peur ‘fear’) contrasts with English, which more often than not uses no article when a general class or an abstract quality are indicated:
The definite article is obligatory in French in these cases.
Masculine singular and plural definite articles fuse with preceding de or à:
| du (= de + le) pain | au (= à + le) cinéma |
| de l'effort | à l'école |
| des (= de + les) épices | aux (= à + les) animaux |
Where place names include a masculine singular or plural definite article (Le Caire ‘Cairo’, Le Havre, Les Caraïbes ‘The West Indies’) these also fuse with a preceding de or à:
Such contraction is only possible with articles, however. It is not possible when le, la, les are pronouns (see Chapter 3.2): J’ai essayé de le comprendre ‘I tried to understand it’ (NOT *J’ai essayé du comprendre).
An archaic contraction of en les to ès is still found in the set phrase: licencié ès lettres ‘Bachelor of Arts’.
In French the definite article is normally used with the names of countries, regions and départements, whereas in English it is not:
When en ‘to/in’ or de ‘from’ are used with feminine countries or regions (or with masculine countries beginning with a vowel: en Irak), the definite article is omitted:
But with masculine countries, regions and départements, the definite article is retained with à ‘to/in’, dans ‘in’ and de ‘from’:
Towns whose names do not include a definite article (Lille, Bordeaux, Metz) require one when modified:
The names of large islands are usually accompanied by definite articles: La Corse ‘Corsica’, La Sardaigne ‘Sardinia’, La Nouvelle-Zélande ‘New Zealand’. But some small European islands, and some large islands elsewhere in the world do not have an article: Chypre ‘Cyprus’, Malte ‘Malta’, Jersey, Taiwan, Cuba, Haiti, Java.
(For the gender of countries see Chapter 1.2.6, and for the use of en, à, dans see Chapter 13.26.1.)
The names of languages in English start with a capital letter and have no article. The names of languages in French start with a small letter, normally have a definite article and are masculine in gender:
In the expressions parler français, parler allemand, etc., the name of the language functions more like an adverbial than a noun, so no article is used. But note the following contrast:
When adverbs such as souvent, bien are present, français becomes a noun again, requiring the definite article.
Seasons in French are usually accompanied by a definite article, except when they are preceded by en:
| en hiver | in winter |
| en été | in summer |
| en automne | in autumn |
N.B.: ‘in spring’ is ‘au printemps’
(See also Chapter 13.26.1.)
Titles in French prefaced by Monsieur or Madame include the definite article:
| Monsieur le Maire | Mr Mayor |
| Madame le Maire | Madam Mayor |
| Monsieur le Président-Directeur-Général | Mr Chairman |
Where women are the holders of the post in question, the feminine article is also used: Madame la Maire, Madame la Ministre, Madame la Président-Directeur-Général. (See Chapter 1.2.2.)
Such forms of address as: Monsieur le Directeur des Achats ‘Mr Purchasing Director’, Madame le Directeur du Personnel ‘Madam Personnel Director’ used to be frequent in French in writing (e.g. letters) or in very formal speeches, and can still be found today, but are almost unheard of in English.
The definite article is similarly present in French in greetings or expressions of encouragement like:
| Salut les mecs! | Hi, guys! |
| Allez les bleus! | Come on, you blues! |
| Au lit, les enfants! | Off to bed, kids! |
With kings and queens, however, French leaves out an article with numbers where English puts one in:
| François I (François premier) | François the first |
| Henri III (Henri trois) | Henry the third |
| Elizabeth I (Elizabeth première) | Elizabeth the first |
| Elizabeth II (Elizabeth deux) | Elizabeth the second |
(See also Chapter 6.4.2.)
In superlatives involving adjectives which follow the noun (see Chapter 4.12.2), it is compulsory to repeat the definite article, which then agrees with the noun:
Where English uses ‘so much a pound’, French refers to tant la livre/le kilo, etc.:
(a) In simple descriptions of body parts, French uses a definite article where English uses a possessive determiner (e.g. his, my, their):
| Il a les yeux bleus | His eyes are blue |
| Elle a les cheveux coupés court | She has her hair cut short |
(b) When people activate parts of their own bodies, French also uses a definite article with the body part:
| Il a plissé les yeux | He screwed up his eyes |
| Elle a agité le bras | She waved |
| J'ai baissé la tête en y entrant | I lowered my head as I went in |
| Elle a hoché/secoué la tête | She nodded/shook her head |
(c) When people do things which affect their own bodies, or those of others, the usual construction is a definite article in front of the body part, and a reflexive or indirect object pronoun:
| Je me suis fracturé la jambe | I broke my leg |
| Elle s'est fait couper les cheveux | She had her hair cut |
| Je lui serre la main | I shake his hand |
| On lui a coupé la tête | They cut his head off |
| Elle lui essuie les yeux avec un mouchoir | She wipes his eyes with a handkerchief |
These constructions are also possible with a possessive determiner, as in English, however:
| Je prends sa main | I take her hand |
| Elle caresse mes cheveux | She strokes my hair |
| J'appuie mes deux mains sur sa poitrine | I press with both my hands on his chest |
(d) When body parts are the subject of a sentence, they usually have a possessive determiner, as in English, rather than a definite article:
| Mon coeur s'est arrêté une fraction de seconde | My heart stopped for an instant |
| Ma tête me fait mal | My head hurts |
| Ses paupières se sont abaissées | His eyelids lowered |
| Leurs regards se sont croisés | Their eyes met |
(e) When descriptions of parts of the body or items of clothing are used adver bially, they are accompanied by the definite article:
| l'homme au nez retroussé | the man with the turned-up nose |
| le comédien au chapeau de paille | the actor in the straw hat |
| Il parlait, le sourire aux lèvres | He spoke, with a smile |
| Elle est partie, les mains dans les poches | She left with her hands in her pockets |
| Il s'est agenouillé, le chapeau à la main | He knelt down with his hat in his hands |
| Il a avoué son crime, les yeux abaissés | He confessed his crime, looking down |
When reference is made to one body part, one item of clothing, or one more general personal attribute, but two or more people are involved, the entity is usually referred to in the singular:
Where English uses ‘on + . . . day(s)’ to indicate a habitual action e.g. ‘On Monday(s) I go to the market’, French uses the definite article: Je vais faire mon marché le lundi:
In French the article usually has to be repeated with each noun, whereas in English one use at the beginning of a ‘list’ is enough:
(a) One use of the indefinite article is to introduce a new, countable, concrete noun (maison, tableau, livre, voiture, etc.) into the discourse where the entity referred to is not ‘known about’ or ‘specified’ sufficiently to justify the use of the definite article:
(b) Another is to indicate that the noun describes a general class of countable, concrete entities (‘generic’ reference):
In this ‘generic’ use, the indefinite article overlaps with and is usually interchangeable with a plural definite article (see 2.2(b)):
(c) A third use is with abstract nouns (courage, beauté, réalisme, importance, etc.). Abstract nouns are normally accompanied by the definite article (see Chapter 1.1.1). But when they are modified by an adjective they take an indefinite article. Compare:
The plural indefinite article des refers to an unspecified quantity of entities described by a plural count noun. In English the article is most frequently omitted:
NB: An error often made by English speakers is to omit the article; plural indefinite des cannot be omitted in French: NOT *Je lui ai offert roses.
When the plural indefinite article is preceded by the preposition de, it is omitted in French. Compare:
Omission of plural indefinite article des only occurs after the preposition de. With other prepositions it is not omitted:
Because plural indefinite des is omitted after the preposition de, this means that it is omitted when it is the complement of a number of verbs which are always followed by the preposition de (see Chapter 8.4):
Plural indefinite des is also omitted after many quantifiers (see Chapter 6.9) or quantifier-like expressions which incorporate the preposition de:
Exceptions: bien des ‘many’, encore des ‘still more’:
Compare the use of the plural indefinite article and the plural definite article in similar contexts:
When the highlighted expressions follow the preposition de, des is deleted (2.3.2), but de + les becomes des (2.2.1):
Thus des can be either a plural indefinite article corresponding to English ‘some’ or no article, or a plural definite article fused with the preposition de.
Note the following contrasts with quantifiers:
A contrast which English speakers often find difficult is between d’autres and des autres. d’autres ‘other(s)’ is an indefinite expression which is not accompanied by the plural indefinite article des:
des autres is only used where des is the fused form of preposition de and the definite article les of les autres ‘the others’:
NB: This is a case where a change appears to be in progress. In spoken French des autres is often generalized to all these contexts.
When an adjective precedes the noun, it is customary, at least in written French, to use de and not des:
NB: This does not apply when the adjective and the noun are joined in a compound noun or something which is seen as a single unit: des jeunes gens, des jeunes filles, des petits pois, des petites annonces, des grands magasins, des grands jours.
The partitive article du, de l’, de la, des is used with mass nouns in French where English uses ‘some’ or no article at all:
The partitive article is also used with abstract nouns such as courage, beauté, patience, silence when these qualities are attributed to people or things:
When a partitive article follows the preposition de it is deleted, just as plural indefinite des is deleted (see 2.3.2):
| beaucoup de bois | a lot of wood |
| une bouteille de lait | a bottle of milk |
| une tête d'ail | a bulb of garlic |
| J'ai besoin d'argent | I need money |
Many constructions exist with faire + noun, introduced by the partitive:
| Faire du sport | To take part in sport |
| Faire du basket | To play basketball |
| Faire du piano | To play the piano |
| Faire de la politique | To go in for politics |
| Faire du bien (à quelqu'un) | To do good (to somebody) |
| Faire du mal (à quelqu'un) | To do harm (to somebody) |
After ne . . . pas, ne . . . jamais, ne . . . plus, ne . . . guère, any indefinite article (un, une, des) or partitive article (du, de l’, de la, des) accompanying a direct object normally becomes de:
There are three cases where this does not apply:
(a) when a contrast is made between a negative and a positive direct object:
(b) after the verb être:
| Ce n'est pas un oiseau | It isn't a bird |
(c) when the meaning is ‘not a (single) one’ rather than ‘not a’:
There are a number of cases where no article is used in French.
In compound nouns linked by à, there is usually no article in front of the second noun:
| une brosse à dents | a toothbrush |
| un couteau à pain | a bread knife |
| une corbeille à papiers | a waste-paper basket |
| une cuiller à café | a tea (coffee) spoon |
| une planche à roulettes | a skateboard |
| une planche à voile | a sailboard |
| une tasse à café | a coffee cup |
| une tasse à thé | a tea cup |
| un verre à vin | a wine glass |
| un verre à pied | a stemmed glass |
The article is frequently omitted before the second noun in noun + noun constructions linked by de, where the second noun functions like an adjective (and is often translated into English as an adjective):
| une ambassade de France | a French embassy |
| une carte de visite | a visiting card |
| une carte de France | a map of France |
| un billet de bus | a bus ticket |
| un arrêt de bus | a bus stop |
| un tableau d'affichage | a notice board |
| une question d'argent | a question of money |
| une affaire de coeur | a matter of the heart |
| un problème de liquidité | a cash-flow problem |
| une salle de classe | a classroom |
| une salle de bains | a bathroom |
| une agence de voyages | a travel agent/agency |
| un verre de vin | a glass of wine |
| une tasse de thé | a cup of tea |
| une tasse de café | a cup of coffee |
But note that when the second noun is modified (by an adjective or a clause, for example) it becomes definite, and a definite article appears:
The article is omitted after de in participle + noun constructions where the participle functions as an adjective:
| couvert de boue | covered with mud |
| rempli d'eau | full of water |
| dépourvu de sens | lacking any meaning |
| comblé de bonheur | overwhelmed with happiness |
| entouré d'imbéciles | surrounded by idiots |
The article is frequently omitted when a noun alone follows sans, avec, en, sur, sous, par, or two nouns alone appear in the expression ni . . . ni:
| sans arrêt | continuously |
| sans difficulté | without difficulty |
| sans délai | without delay |
| sans sucre | without sugar |
| sans manche | with no handle |
| avec patience | with patience |
| avec difficulté | with difficulty |
| en colère | angry |
| en guerre | at war |
| en réparation | being repaired |
| en théorie | in theory |
| en marbre | in marble |
| sur commande | by order |
| sous verre | under glass |
| sous pression | under pressure |
| deux fois par semaine | twice a week |
| par pitié | out of pity |
| Il ne portait ni veste | He was wearing neither a jacket |
| ni cravate | nor a tie |
(For ne . . . ni . . . ni see Chapter 16.14.)
But if the noun is modified (for example by an adjective) the article is not omitted:
| sans la moindre difficulté | without the least difficulty |
| sans même le plus petit retard | without even the slightest delay |
| avec une patience admirable | with admirable patience |
| sous la pression du gouvernement | under pressure from the government |
NB: en cannot normally co-occur with an article. When an article is required, the preposition changes to dans:
| en théorie | BUT | dans la théorie d'Einstein |
| in theory | in Einstein's theory | |
| en pratique | BUT | dans la pratique |
| in practice | in practice |
| avoir besoin (de) | to need |
| avoir envie (de) | to desire |
| avoir peur | to be afraid |
| avoir raison | to be right |
| chercher noise (à) | to try and pick a quarrel (with) |
| demander pardon | to ask for forgiveness |
| donner congé (à) | to sack |
| faire attention | to pay attention |
| garder rancune (à) | to bear a grudge (against) |
| prendre fait et cause (pour) | to defend |
| rendre justice (à) | to be fair (to) |
| rendre service | to help |
| tenir parole | to keep one's word |
When proper nouns are juxtaposed with common nouns which identify them, the common nouns are said to be in apposition. In such cases the article is usually omitted:
But when the common noun is modified, for example by an adjective, the article is not omitted:
When a noun alone follows the verbs être ‘be’, demeurer ‘stay’, devenir ‘become’, élire ‘elect’, nommer ‘appoint’, rester ‘stay’, the article is omitted:
| Sa mère est ingénieur(e) | Her mother is an engineer |
| Il est devenu architecte très tot | He became an architect early on |
| Elle est restée maire de la commune | She remained mayor of the village |
| On l'a élu président | He was elected president |
| Pierre a été nommé Directeur des Achats | Pierre was appointed Purchasing Director |
But when the noun is modified, for example by an adjective, the article is not omitted:
In lists of nouns the article is frequently omitted:
NB: Either all the articles are omitted (as in these examples) or they are all included (see 2.2.11).
The nouns referring to days and months do not have an article when they are used without modification:
| Venez mardi | Les derniers jours de décembre |
| Come on Tuesday | The final days of December |
However, when modified, for example by a date or a relative clause, a definite article is required:
TABLE 2.B Summary table of demonstrative determiners
| Proximate | Non-proximate | ||
| masc | ce, cet this, that | ce, cet . . . ci this . . . (here) | ce, cet . . . là that . . . (there) |
| fem | cette this, that | cette . . . ci this . . . (here) | cette . . . là that . . . (there) |
| plur | ces these, those | ces . . . ci these . . . (here) | ces . . . là those . . . (there) |
NB: Masculine cet appears only when the demonstrative determiner immediately precedes a noun or adjective beginning with a vowel or a ‘silent h’ (h muet) (see 2.1.1):
| cet enfant | this child |
| cet ancien marin | that ex-sailor |
| cet héroïsme | that heroism |
Demonstrative determiners imply a contrast between the entity referred to by the noun they accompany and other entities of a similar type:
(The car referred to is implicitly contrasted with other cars which haven’t been around the world.)
(The moment referred to is implicitly contrasted with other moments when the door didn’t close.)
Note that ce, cet/cette translate both ‘this’ and ‘that’, ces translates both ‘these’ and ‘those’. The form -ci can be added to the noun accompanied by ce, etc., to stress proximity in space or time. Proximity in English is part of the meaning of ‘this’, but it can also be emphasized by stressing ‘this’ or sometimes by adding ‘here’ after the noun:
The form -là can be added to the noun accompanied by ce, etc., to stress non- proximity in space or time. Non-pr oximity in English is part of the meaning of ‘that’, but it can also be emphasized by stressing ‘that’ or sometimes by adding ‘there’ after the noun:
-ci and -là are necessary if a comparison is made between 'this X' and 'that X':
TABLE 2.B Summary table of demonstrative determiners
Possessive determiners agree in gender and number with the nouns they precede:
| Elle a levé son verre | She raised her (or his) glass |
| Il a rempli sa tasse | He filled his (or her) cup |
| Il a cassé ses lunettes | He broke his (or her) glasses |
The feminine singular forms ma, ta, sa become mon, ton, son when they imme diately precede a noun or adjective beginning with a vowel or ‘silent h’ (h muet) (see 2.1.1):
| ma classe | my class | BUT | mon école | my school |
| sa permission | her permission | BUT | son approbation | her approval |
| ta hardiesse | your audacity | BUT | ton hésitation | your hesitation |
The determiners votre, vos can both be used to refer to more than one possessor:
and as a polite form:
(For the use of the definite article rather than possessive determiners with parts of the body see 2.2.8.)
(For the use of a singular determiner when a single item is possessed by more than one person see 2.2.9.)