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• To be
• Description
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• The house
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By the end of this lesson, you should understand:

Qu’est-ce que c’est ? C'est une colombe.

Voici les deux garçons !

Grammar · Gender of nouns · Genre des noms

Nouns are words that represent something perceived or conceived, like an apple or a thought. In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculine (m) or feminine (f).

Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two words for the cat in French are le chat (m) and la chatte (f).

However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender is fixed, regardless of the actual gender of the person or animal. For example, la personne^{the person} is always feminine, even when it's talking about your uncle; le professeur^{the teacher} is always masculine, even when it's talking about your female professor or teacher.

The nouns that express things without an obvious gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one form. This form can be masculine or feminine. For example, la voiture^{the car} can only be feminine; le stylo^{the pen} can only be masculine.

Supplementary grammar · Common endings

(upload audio)
Masculine nouns
-age	le fromage		the cheese
-d	le pied		the foot
-g	le rang		the rank
-isme	le matérialisme		materialism
-ment	le mouvement		the movement
-n	le ballon		the balloon
-r	le professeur		the teacher
-t	le chat		the cat
Feminine nouns
-ce	la grâce		the grace
-che	la touche		the touch
-ée	la durée		the duration
-ie	la boulangerie		the bakery
-ion	la nation		the nation
-ite/-ité	la stabilité		stability
-lle	la fille		the girl
-nce	la balance		the scales
-nne	la personne		the person
-ure	la figure		the figure

Exceptions

There are many exceptions to gender rules in French which can only be learned. There are even words that are spelled the same, but have a different meaning when masculine or feminine; for example, le livre means the book, but la livre means the pound. Some words that appear to be masculine (such as la photo, which should be masculine but is not because it is actually short for la photographie) are in fact feminine, and vice versa. Then there are some that just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means faith or belief, whereas le foie is masculine and means liver.

Vocabulary · Example nouns

Vocabulary gallery

le cheval  ( /ʃəval/) le chien  ( /ʃjɛ̃/) le livre  ( /livʁ/) la colombe  ( /kɔlɔ̃b/) la chemise  ( /ʃə.miz/) la maison  ( /mɛ.zɔ̃/)

(upload audio)
Masculine nouns
le cheval	/ʃəval/	the horse
le chien	/ʃjɛ̃/	the dog
le livre	/livʁ/	the book
le bruit	/bʁɥi/	the noise
Feminine nouns
la colombe	/kɔlɔ̃b/	the dove
la chemise	/ʃə.miz/	the shirt
la maison	/mɛ.zɔ̃/	the house
la liberté	/li.bɛʁ.te/	the liberty

Grammar · Articles

The definite article · L'article défini

In English, the definite article is always the.

In French, the definite article is changed depending on the noun's:

1. gender
2. number
3. first letter

There are three definite articles and an abbreviation. Le is used for masculine nouns, La is used for feminine nouns, Les is used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), and L' is used when the noun is singular and begins with a vowel or silent h (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where a changes to an before a vowel.

singular	feminine	la	/la/ (lah)	la fille	(lah fee-yuh)	the daughter
	masculine	le	/lə/ (luh)	le fils	(luh fees)	the son
singular, starting with a vowel sound		l’	/l/	l’enfant	(lah(n)-fah(n))	the child
plural		les	/le/ (lay)	les filles	(lay fee-yuh)	the daughters
				les fils	(lay fees)	the sons
				les enfants	(lay-zah(n)-fah(n))	the children

Unlike English, the definite article is used to talk about something in a general sense, a general statement or feeling about an idea or thing.

Elision

Elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel. The definite articles le and la are shortened to l’ when they come before a noun that begins with a vowel or silent h. When pronounced, the vowel sound is dropped.

(upload audio)
(le) ami	→	l'ami	(lah-mee)	the (male) friend
(la) amie	→	l'amie	(lah-mee)	the (female) friend
(le) élève	→	l'élève	(lay-lehv)	the pupil
(la) heure	→	l'heure	(lewr)	the hour, the time

Elision does not occur on an aspired h:

(le) héros: le héros^{the hero}

In addition to the definite article, elision will also occur with other words, such as que, je, le, ce, ne, and de. The details on these words will be covered in later sections of the book.

The indefinite article · L'article indéfini

In English, the indefinite articles are a and an. Some is used as a plural article in English.

Again, indefinite articles in French take different forms depending on gender and number. The articles un and une literally mean one in French.

singular	feminine	une	/yn/ (ewn)	une fille	a daughter
	masculine	un	/œ̃/ (uh(n))	un fils	a son
plural		des	/dɛ/ (deh)	des filles	some daughters
				des fils	some sons

^ une is often (more often than not) pronounced (ewnuh) in poetry and lyric.
^ Des fils does mean some sons, but is a homograph: it can also mean some threads (when pronounced like /fil/ ).

Some

Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English. For example, you are looking at photographs in an album. The English statement I am looking at photographs. cannot be translated to French as Je regarde photographies. because an article is required to tell which photographs are being looked at. If it is a set of specific pictures, the French statement should be Je regarde les photographies.^{I am looking at the photographs.} On the other hand, if the person is just browsing the album, the French translation is Je regarde des photographies.^{I am looking at some photographs.}

Plurality, pronunciation, and exceptions

The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an -s. However, the -s ending is not pronounced. It is the article that tells the listener whether the noun is singular or plural.

Most singular nouns do not end in -s. The -s is added for the plural form of the noun. Fils is one exception. Whenever the singular form of a noun ends in -s, there is no change in the plural form.

le fils the son	les fils the sons	un fils a son	des fils (some) sons
le cours the course	les cours the courses	un cours a course	des cours (some) courses

The final consonant is almost always not pronounced unless followed by an -e (or another vowel). Fils /fis/ is also an exception to this rule.

Liaison

Remember that the last consonant of a word is typically not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound (or silent h), the consonant often becomes pronounced. This is a process called liaison. When a vowel goes directly after un, the normally unpronounced n sound becomes pronounced.

(upload audio)
(un) ami	unnami	/ɶ̃‿na.mi/	a (male) friend
(un) élève	unnélève	/ɶ̃‿ne.lɛv/	a pupil

Compare the pronunciation to words without liaison:

un garçon /ɶ̃ gaʁsɔ̃/

Une is unaffected by liaison.

Liaison also occurs with les and des.

(upload audio)
(les) amis	leszamis	/le‿za.mi/	(some) (male) friends
(des) amis	deszamis	/dɛ‿za.mi/	(some) (male) friends
(des) amies	deszamies	/dɛ‿za.mi/	(some) (female) friends

As with elision, an aspired h isn't liaised:

(les) hangars: les hangars le æŋgəʁ

Vocabulary · People · Les personnes

(upload audio)
la personne	/la pɛʁ.sɔn/	person
Gender and age
l'homme (m)	/lɔm/	man
la femme	/la fam/	woman
le garçon	/lə gaʁ.sɔ̃/	boy
la fille	/la fi.j/	girl
la fillette	/la fi.jɛt/	little girl
Friends
l'ami (m) le copain	/la.mi/ /lə kɔ.pɛ̃/	male friend
l'amie (f) la copine	/la.mi/ /la kɔ.pin/	female friend

Vocabulary · Expressions

Qu’est-ce que c’est ?

To say What is it? or What is that? in French, Qu’est-ce que c’est ? /kɛs kə sɛ/ is used.

Qu'est-ce que…?^{What is it that ?} is used often to say What…? at the beginning of sentences.

To respond to this question, you say C’est un(e) [nom]., meaning It is a [noun]:

C'est un livre.^{It's a book.}

Remember that the indefinite article (un or une) must agree with the noun it modifies:

C'est une chemise.^{It's a shirt.}

Il y a

Il y a /il.ja/ is used to say there is or there are. Il y a expresses the existence of the noun it introduces.

Il y a une pomme.^{There is an apple.}

The phrase is used for both singular and plural nouns. Unlike in English (is → are), il y a does not change form.

Il y a des pommes.^{There are (some) apples.}

The -s at the end of the most pluralised nouns tells you that the phrase is there are instead of there is. In spoken French, when both the singular and plural forms almost always sound the same, the article (and perhaps other adjectives modifying the noun) is used to distinguish between singular and plural versions.

A is the present third person singular form of the verb to have, and y is a pronoun meaning there. The phrase il y a, then, literally translates to he has there. This phrase is used in all French tenses. It is important to remember that verb stays as a form of have and not be.

Voici and voilà

Like in English, il y a… is not often used to point out an object. To point out an object to the listener, use voici /vwa.si/, meaning over here is/are or right here is/are, and voilà /vwa.la/, meaning over there is/are, or there you have it.

Voici les deux garçons !^{Here are the two boys!}

Examples

(upload audio)
C'est un chien.		It's a dog.
Il y a un problème.		There is a problem.
Il y a deux personnes ici.		There are two people here.
Il y a deux tables dans le salon.		There are two tables in the lounge.
Il n’y a pas de chat.		There is no cat.
il n’y a pas que toi.		You are not the only one.
Voici le fromage.		Here's the cheese.
Voila une pomme		There's an apple.

Exercises

ExerciseRespond according to the pictures.

Qu’est-ce que c’est?

C'est ….

pomme

poire

chat

chien

Solution(upload audio)

C'est une pomme

C'est une poire

C'est un chat

C'est un chien

ExerciseMatching

Match each noun with its corresponding image.

une colombe

des livres

une chemise

des chevaux

une maison

Solution

une chemise

une maison

des livres

une colombe

des chevaux

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate each phrase from English to French

the boy	le garçon
the female friend	l'amie, la copine
the man	l'homme
the little girl	la fillette
the woman	la femme
the person	la personne
the girl	la fille
the male friend	l'ami, le copain

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate each phrase from French to English

l'amie	the female friend
la fillette	the little girl
la personne	the person
la femme	the woman
l'ami	the male friend
la copine	the female friend
le garçon	the boy
la fille	the girl
le copain	the male friend
l'homme	the man

Supplementary exercises

ExerciseGender

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Classify each noun as masculine or feminine based on its ending.

rapidité	feminine
mutisme	masculine
récréation	feminine
bricolage	masculine
paille	feminine
découpage	masculine
grenouille	feminine
gallicisme	masculine
robinet	masculine
différence	feminine
rondelle	feminine
optimisme	masculine
question	feminine
modernisme	masculine
vaisselle	feminine
paysage	masculine
ambulance	feminine
originalité	feminine
famille	feminine
sévérité	feminine
couronne	feminine
particularité	feminine
anarchisme	masculine
feuille	feminine
mobilité	feminine
télévision	feminine
oreille	feminine
panne	feminine
frite	feminine
ordonnance	feminine
professionnalisme	masculine
sincérité	feminine
invitation	feminine
passage	masculine
abeille	feminine
résolubilité	feminine
canne	feminine
attention	feminine
validité	feminine
bagage	masculine
coquillage	masculine
créativité	feminine
chance	feminine
monolinguisme	masculine
village	masculine

To be →

Level one lessons  · To be →

People and things · To be · Description · Family · Recreation · The house · Weather · Travel · Art · Science

Lessons  :

Introductory · Level one · Level two · Level three · Level four

French : Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts