Elision in French occurs when the final vowel of a word is dropped before another word beginning with a vowel. This term includes words beginning with mute h. The fact that the vowel has been elided is usually indicated by an apostrophe.
Elision occurs in the following circumstances:
The e of the pronouns je, me, te, se, le, and usually ce (the rules for elision here are more complex); and sometimes the a of the pronoun la are elided before a verb beginning with a vowel or mute h:
Il m'avait vu. (He had seen me.) Je t'en donnerai. (I'll give you some.)
The e of the definite article le and la is elided before a noun or adjective beginning with a vowel or mute h:
l'autre homme (the other man)
The e of de, ne, que and jusque is elided before a vowel or mute h:
N'ouvrez pas la porte! (Don't open the door!)
The e of conjunctions lorsque (when) and puisque (since) is elided before the personal pronouns, prepositions and the indefinite articles:
Puisqu'on ne peut pas partir... (Since one cannot leave...)
The e of presque (almost) and quelque (some) is elided only in the words presqu'île and quelqu'un/quelqu'une:
Quelqu'une de mes publications... (One of my publications...)
The i of si (if) is elided only before the pronouns il, ils:
s'il peut... (if he can...)
See Also: