The French Indefinite Article

 

 



 There are three indefinite articles in French.

Un is used in front of masculine nouns, and une is used in front of feminine nouns.

Everything in French is either masculine or feminine, so it is important to learn the article which goes in front of every noun in order to memorize them until eventually it become natural.

eg: un bateau (a boat)

eg: une ville(a town)

The French Indefinite Article for plural nouns is des. It refers to an unspecified quantity of people or things.

eg: des personnes (people)

eg: des fleurs (flowers) in French

Some nouns have two genders

eg: un adulte, une adulte (adult)
eg : un enfant, une enfant (child)
eg: un partenaire, une partenaire (partner)

professions

eg: un fonctionnaire, une fonctionnaire (civil-servant)
eg: un pianiste, une pianiste (pianist) eg: un chimiste, une chimiste (chimist)

Some nouns change meaning when they change gender

eg: un tour (a turn, trick)
eg: une tour (tower)

eg: un voile (veil)
eg: une voile (sail)

The French Indefinite articles are used to introduce

New concrete nouns

eg: il y a un couteau dans le tiroir

eg: je porte une robe noire et blanche

Abstract nouns

eg: elle a une énergie incroyable (she has an unbelievable energy)

eg: il a une peur incontrôlable de l’orage (he has an uncontrollable fear of thunder)

Plural nouns

eg: la ville des jardins fleuris (the city of the gardens bloom)

eg: j’ai acheté des chocolates (I bought some chocolates)
 
The french indefinite article is omitted

 with nouns following the verbs

 (être) to be, (demeurer) to stay, (devenir) to become, (élire) to elect, (nommer) to appoint, (rester) to stay when designating a profession, nationality or religion.

eg: elle est anglaise (she is English)

eg: il est devenu médecin (he became doctor)

eg: il a été élu Maire (he has been elected maire)

eg: il a été nommé inspecteur (he has been nominated inspector)


but

 when “c’est” is used, the article is not omitted

eg: c’est une vendeuse

eg: c’est un catholique


however

when the noun is modified by an adjective for example, the indefinite article is used

eg: il est un Maître sévère (he is a strict teacher)

eg: elle est une étudiante consciencieuse (she is a conscientious student)

after “ quel ” or “ quelle”

eg: quel désastre (what a distaster)

eg: quelle chaleur (how hot)


Before nouns in apposition

eg: la Bouillabaisse, plat Provençal (Bouillabaisse, provencal dish)

but

when the noun is modified, for example by an adjective, the article is not omitted

eg: la Bouillabaisse, un célèbre plat Provençal (Bouillabaisse, famous provencal dish)

with the following words

(sans, sur, sous, en, par, avec, ni…ni)

eg: sans lait

eg: sur commande

eg: sous verre

eg: en porcelaine

eg: par erreur

eg: ni crayon…..ni papier

in lists

With a list of nouns, the article is often omitted

eg: j’ai acheté pommes, poires, abricots et bananes

eg: j’ai vu chats, chiens, lapins et souris

eg: ramasser crayons, livres et papiers

Tips:

The liaison is made between un, une and words beginning with a vowel or a mute H

eg: un "n" oeuf
eg: une "n" erreur

and also between des where the last consonant is pronounced "z" and words beginning with a
vowel or a mute H'

eg: des "z" amis
eg: des "z" hommes