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Definite Articles

The definite article developed historically from a word meaning "this". It indicates a specific person or thing. The definite article has four forms corresponding to the English "the": le before a singular masculine noun:

le garçon (the boy)

la before a feminine singular noun: la fille (the girl)

l' before a singular noun of either gender beginning with a vowel or a "mute" h: l'avion (the plane), masculine noun; l'automobile (the car), feminine noun, l'hôpital (the hospital), masculine noun

les before a plural noun of either gender: les avions (the planes); les automobiles (the cars); les hôpitaux (the hospitals)

In French the article is expressed before each noun, even though it may be omitted in English.

The definite article is used:

with nouns used in a general or abstract sense:

Les Français aiment le fromage.
(The French like cheese.)

Tous les étudiants ont un livre d'anglais.
(All the students have an English book.)

with names of languages, except after parler:

Il possède le russe parfaitement.
(He knows Russian perfectly.)

Nous parlons danois couramment.
(We speak Danish fluently.)

in place of possessive adjectives with parts of the body when the possessor is clear:

Je me brosse les dents.
(I brush my teeth.)

with titles of rank or profession followed by a name:

l' empereur Napoléon (Emperor Napoleon)
le docteur Vermot (Doctor Vermot)

with proper nouns that are modified:

le New York d'aujourd'hui
(today's New York)

with days of the week in a plural sense:

Le dimanche, je vais à l'eglise.
(On Sundays, I go to church.)

with names of seasons and colors, except after en:

L'hiver, je fais du ski.
(In winter, I ski.)

Préferez-vous le violet ou le rose?
(Do you prefer the color purple or pink?)

with names of countries, rivers, mountains, etc.:

La Loire est un fleuve calme.
(The Loire river is calm.)

in common expressions of time and place:

le jour, la nuit, l'année dernière, à la maison, à l'usine.
(in the daytime, at night, last year, at home, at the factory)

with dates:

Noël est le vingt-cinq décembre.
(Christmas is on December 25.)

with nouns of weights and measures:

Les cigarettes coûtent vingt francs le paquet.
(Cigarettes cost twenty francs a pack.)

Le ruban vaut trente francs le mètre.
(The ribbon is costs thirty francs a meter.)