être ‘to be’

The verb être is an irregular verb in the present tense. Listen carefully to its forms in the present. Do you hear the liaison or linking in the pronunciation of the –s in the vous form? It is pronounced as a /z/ to link with the vowel ê in êtes.

être  ‘to be’

C’est (plural Ce sont) is a common expression used to describe and introduce people or things. See c’est vs. il/elle est for more information. Etre is also used as an auxiliary in compound tenses (passé composé with être, passé composé of pronominal verbs, plus-que-parfait, etc.)

Le genre

In French, a noun is always feminine or masculine. It is introduced by a determiner, which usually indicates the gender of the noun.

people

When a noun refers to a person, the gender is determined by the person’s sex (although some exceptions do exist).

In general, the feminine form of the noun is formed by adding an –e to the masculine noun. Note that the addition of the –e changes the pronunciation in some words:

There are cases when the feminine form of the noun changes more drastically.

In general, when the masculine noun ends in –e, the feminine noun remains unchanged. Only the determiner or the context indicates if it is a feminine or masculine noun.

animals

The gender of animals is often arbitrary. Some animals are always masculine (un escargot, a snail), others are feminine (la fourmi, ant). However, for some animals there are irregular masculine and feminine forms.

• le chat / la chatte, cat
• le chien / la chienne, dog
• le coq / la poule, chicken (rooster / hen)
• le boeuf, le taureau / la vache, ox / bull / cow

objects and ideas

The gender of nouns referring to things and abstractions is arbitrary. However, it can often be inferred from the ending of the word. Typically, words ending in -age, -ment, -eau, -phone, -scope, -isme are masculine and those ending in -tion, -sion, -té, -ette, -ance, -ence, -ie, -ure, -ode/-ade/-ude are feminine.

Listen to the dialogue. Feminine nouns are in blue, masculine in black.

Les articles définis

forms

In French, few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or ‘determined’ by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite (‘the’) or indefinite (‘a’, ‘an’). In addition, French articles are also masculine or feminine, singular or plural, according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the definite articles in French:

élision and liaison

In the examples above, note that le and la both become l’ when they precede a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h: l’escargot, l’université. This is called elision.

Unlike le and la, les does not have a contracted, reduced form. When les is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally silent final s of les is pronounced, making a /z/ sound. This additional sound linking two words is called liaison. Listen to the following examples:

Note that elision and liaison occur with most words starting with h: l’homme, les hommes, l’hiver, les hivers. Exceptions to this rule are words beginning with an aspirate ‘h’.

to identify a specific noun

The definite article is used to identify a specific noun or to refer to a noun that has already been specified.

to express general truths or concepts

French uses the definite article to express general truths or concepts. English, in contrast, uses no article at all. Compare the following sentences:

to express likes and dislikes

The French also use the definite article with verbs of preference, such as aimer, préférer, détester. Once again, English omits the article in such general statements. For example:

to indicate habitual recurrence

The definite article is used in French with moments of the day, days of the week, and seasons to indicate habitual recurrence. For example:

in a series

The article is usually repeated in a series, in contrast to English. For example:

no article

Cities usually do not require an article in French. For example:

Continents, countries, states, regions, and oceans usually require an article (l’Afrique, la France, le Texas, la Bourgogne, l’Atlantique etc.), but there are a few exceptions, usually islands: Haïti, Israël, Madagascar. See prepositions with place names for more information.

Months never require an article: janvier, février, mars, etc.

Days of the week do not require an article in instances where they do not indicate habitual recurrence. For example:

Listen to the dialogue:

Les articles indéfinis

forms

In French, few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or ‘determined’ by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite (‘the’) or indefinite (‘a’, ‘an’). In French, articles are also masculine or feminine, and singular or plural, according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the indefinite articles in French:

In the examples above, listen carefully to the difference in pronunciation of un and des before words beginning with a consonant (un tatou, des tatous) and before a words beginning with a vowel sound (un écureuil, des écureuils). These are examples of liaison.

uses

As the English ‘a’ ‘an’ or ‘some’, the indefinite articles un, une, des refer to nouns which are non-specific. Un or une may also indicate quantity, ‘a’ or ‘an’ in the sense of ‘one.’ Contrast the use of the indefinite and definite articles in the first two sentences below. The indefinite plural des is always expressed in French, but its English equivalent ‘some’ is often omitted.

‘de’ after the negative

In a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, des are replaced by de or d’:

However, following the verb être, the indefinite articles un, une, des remain unchanged in the negative:

before a plural adjective

Before a plural adjective which precedes a noun, des usually becomes de. If the adjective comes after the noun, des does not change to de.

with adjectives of profession, nationality, and religion

Professions, nationalities and religions are considered adjectives in French and need no article after the verbs être and devenir.

Listen to the dialogue: