French grammar - Genders and the definite articles - le and la

Genders and the definite articles - le & la

All nouns (things and concepts) in French have a gender - either masculine or feminine.

And like the English 'the' - French also uses the definite article. But unlike English, the definite article in French depends on gender (and number).

• The definite article le is used for masculine nouns.

• And the definite article la is used for feminine nouns.

When the noun starts with a vowel, both le and la contract with an apostrophe to l' and the contracted l' is attached to the noun.

Note that there are no hard and fast rules governing which nouns are masculine and which are feminine. They just need to be remembered.

Examples:
	Le chien est ici. The dog is here. chien (m) means 'dog' le chien is masculine
	La vache est là-bas. The cow is over there. vache (f) means 'cow' la vache is feminine
	Où est le chat ? Where is the cat? chat (m) means 'cat' le chat is masculine
	La gare est loin d'ici ? The (train) station far from here? gare (f) means 'station' la gare is feminine
	Le bureau est près d'ici. The office is close to here. bureau (m) means 'office' or 'desk' le bureau is masculine
	La poste est assez proche. The post office is quite close. poste (f) means 'post office' la poste is feminine assez (adv) means 'quite' or 'enough'
	Le restaurant est magnifique. The restaurant is magnificent. restaurant (m) means 'restaurant' le restaurant is masculine
	Le garçon est en retard. The boy is late. garçon (m) means 'boy' le garçon is masculine
	La fille est à l'heure. The girl is on time. fille (f) means 'girl' la fille is feminine
	D'où est le monsieur ? From where is the gentleman? monsieur (m) means 'gentleman' le monsieur is masculine d'où means 'from where'
	La madame est d'ici ? The lady is from here? madame (f) means 'lady' la madame is feminine
	L'oiseau est là-bas. The bird is over there. oiseau (m) means 'bird' l'oiseau is masculine Contraction when there are two opposing vowels: le + oiseau ⇒ l'oiseau
	Est-ce l'université là-bas ? Is that the university over there? université (f) means 'university' l'université is feminine Contraction: la + université ⇒ l'université
	Non, l'université est ici. No, the university is here. non means 'no'