0. Articles in French Definite: the
Indefinite: a/an/one/some

1. On your paper sort the following words by the definite articles:
la radio la musique les frites le chocolat l’anglais
les vacances l’école le dessin la glace les maths Le La
Les l’

2. Pourquoi le, la, les ou l’?
1. What do all the words with “les” have in common?
2. What do the words with (l’) words have in common?
3. What do the words with “le” have in common?
4. What do the words with “la” have common?
5. Quelle est la différence entre le, la, les, l’ (definite articles) et un, une, des (indefinite articles)?

3. Does it start with a vowel?
Is it female?
Is it male?
Is it plural?
Does it start with a vowel? no no no
yes
yes
yes
yes le
les l’ la
Definite Articles
the

4. What to use?
You must ask yourself 3 questions in the following order to know what definite article to use
1. Is the noun plural? If the noun ends in an “s” then it is plural and you use “Les.”(les vacances, les frites, les amis)
2. If the noun is not plural then ask the 2nd question - Does the noun begin with a vowel? If yes, then you use (L’) as your marker. (l’école, l’anglais)
3. If the noun is not plural and does not begin with a vowel then you have to ask- Is the noun feminine or masculine? If is masculine, you use (Le) and if it is feminine, you use (La) (le journal, la glace)

5. Does it come after a negative ne…pas
Is it female?
Is it male?
Does it come after a negative ne…pas
Is it plural? no no no
yes
yes
yes
yes un
De/d’
des
une
Indefinite Articles
a/an/one/some

6. White Board Practice: use the chart
Definite Article=the
Indefinite Article=
a/an/one/some
plural
les
Des
Starts with a vowel l’
is female la
une
is male le un
After a negative
Ne…pas
De/d’