Lesson-French The Definite Article

There are several ways that you express the word “the” in French. The word “the” is called the definite article. The form of the definite article that you choose should be based on the gender and number of the person or object that you are referring to.

Notes:

• Because nouns do not have a gender in English, it can be difficult to know and remember whether a noun in French is either masculine or feminine. Mistaking the definite articles one for another happens often. Using clues in each sentence (like adjective agreement) will give away the gender of some nouns and help in choosing the appropriate definite article. But when you learn new vocabulary words, you should learn the definite or indefinite article (thus, gender) that is associated with it.
• Remember that even though plural nouns use the definite article les, they still have an assigned masculine or feminine gender.