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14 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The definite article
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Used with a noun referring to a specific item when both the speaker and the audience know what the item is.
It is also used with an uncountable noun to describe all of it, or with a plural noun to describe all of them. |
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le
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definite article
singular masculine before a consonant the |
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la
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definite article
singular feminine before a consonant the |
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l'
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definite article
singular masculine anf feminine before a vowel |
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les
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definite article
plural masculine and feminine |
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The indefinite article
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The French indefinite article is used with a noun referring to a non-specific item, or to a specific item when the speaker and audience don't both know what the item is.
Unlike the English "a/an", the French indefinite article has a plural form, often translated as "some" but usually simply omitted in English. |
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un
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indefinite article
singular masculine a/an |
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une
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indefinite article
singular feminine a/an |
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des
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indefinite article
plural masculine and feminine some |
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The partitive article
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There is no English partitive article.
The French partitive article is often translated as "some", but often simply omitted in English. It is used to indicate an indefinite portion of something uncountable, or anindefinite number of something countable. Notice that except after a negative verb, the partitive article is formed by combining the preposition 'de' (of, from) with the definite article. Also note that in the plural, and after a negative verb, the indefinite and partitive articles take the same form. This makes sense, as there is no clear difference in meaning in these cases. |
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du
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Partitive article
singular before a consonant masculine some |
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de la
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partitive article
singular before a consonant feminine some |
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de l'
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partitive article
singular before a vowel masculine and feminine |
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des
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partitive article
plural masculine and feminine some |
