Lesson 8: Gender & Articles (un, une, le, la)
Un, une, le, la — Gender & Articles · A0 → A1 · Part 1 · Core Grammar & Daily Life
You will learn that every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and that the little word in front of it (un, une, le, la, l', les, des) changes with that gender. You will be able to say 'a book / the book / the books / some books' correctly, and you will know how to make a plural.
In this lesson
- masculine vs feminine
- un / une
- le / la / l' / les / des
- plural formation
Vocabulary
| French | Meaning | Say it | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| un livre | a book (masculine) | uhn lee-vruh اَن لیورُہ | Masculine noun. The r is a soft French throat r. |
| une maison | a house (feminine) | ün meh-zon اُون مے زوں | Feminine noun. 'on' here is nasal — air through the nose. |
| le livre | the book (masculine, one specific book) | luh lee-vruh لُہ لیورُہ | le = the, for a masculine noun. |
| la maison | the house (feminine) | la meh-zon لا مے زوں | la = the, for a feminine noun. |
| l'école | the school (feminine, starts with a vowel) | lay-kol لے کول | le and la both become l' before a vowel sound. École is feminine. |
| les livres | the books (plural) | lay lee-vruh لے لیورُہ | les = the, for more than one thing. The final s is silent. |
| des livres | some books | day lee-vruh دے لیورُہ | des = an indefinite plural — 'some', or no word at all in English. |
| un homme | a man (masculine) | uhn om اَن اوم | The h is completely silent, so it behaves like a vowel word: un homme. |
| une femme | a woman (feminine) | ün fam اُون فام | Famous exception: femme is said 'fam', not 'fem-muh'. |
| un ami | a friend (male) | uhn a-mee اَن اَمی | Masculine. Add an -e for a female friend: une amie. |
| une amie | a friend (female) | ün a-mee اُون اَمی | The extra e is silent — ami and amie sound the same. |
| un café | a café / a coffee (masculine) | uhn ka-fay اَن کافے | Masculine noun. Café means both the drink and the place. |
| une table | a table (feminine) | ün tab-luh اُون تاب لُہ | Feminine. The final e is almost silent — just a light 'uh'. |
| un étudiant | a student (male) | uhn ay-tü-dyahn اَن اے تُو ڈیاں | Masculine. The 'an' at the end is nasal. |
| une étudiante | a student (female) | ün ay-tü-dyahnt اُون اے تُو ڈیانْت | Feminine: étudiant + e = étudiante. Now you DO hear the t. |
| des amis | some friends | day-za-mee دے زَمی | Liaison: the s of des becomes a z sound before the vowel: day-ZA-mee. |
Pronunciation
| Word | Sounds like | Slowly | How to make the sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| un livre | uhn lee-vruh | uhn ... lee-vruh | The 'un' is a nasal sound: air goes through the nose and the n is never closed by the tongue. The r of livre is a soft throat r. |
| une maison | ün meh-zon | ün ... meh-zon | une uses the tight French ü again — round your lips like a whistle, then 'ee'-ish. The 'on' of maison is nasal. |
| l'école | lay-kol | lay ... kol | Write l'école, say lay-kol. The l' borrows the vowel and becomes one smooth syllable with the next word. |
| un homme | uhn-om | uhn ... om | The h is completely silent. Say it as if the word starts with the o: uhn-om. |
| une femme | ün fam | ün ... fam | This is an exception you must memorise. Never say 'fem-muh'. It is simply 'fam'. |
| des amis | day-za-mee | day ... za-mee | Liaison! The silent s of des becomes a z before a vowel. Without the link it sounds wrong to a French ear. |
The hard part of this lesson is not a sound — it is a habit: always say the article together with the noun, and always link des / les to a following vowel (day-ZA-mee, lay-ZA-mee).
Grammar
Every French noun has a gender — and the article is part of the word
French has no neutral 'it'. Every single noun is either masculine or feminine, even a table, a book, a house. English and Urdu do not work like this: Urdu has genders but an English speaker never thinks about them at all. The important thing is this: the little word in front of the noun changes with the gender. un for a masculine singular noun, une for a feminine singular noun, le and la for 'the', l' before a vowel, les for plural, des for an indefinite plural. These little words are called articles, and they are NOT optional — French never uses a bare noun. So never learn 'livre'. Learn 'un livre' and 'le livre' as one block, like one word. When you learn a new noun, always write its article next to it and say it out loud together.
How to guess the gender — and how to make a plural
You cannot always guess gender, but the ending of a word is a good clue. Words ending in -tion, -té, -ette and most words ending in -e are usually feminine. Words ending in -ment, -eau, -age and -isme are usually masculine. These are helpful clues, NOT laws: there are many exceptions, so always check the article when you meet a new word. Now the plural. To make a noun plural you simply add an -s, and that -s is silent. Le livre becomes les livres — the sound is exactly the same. Nouns that already end in -s, -x or -z do not change at all. A few words in -al change to -aux, for example le journal becomes les journaux.
Examples
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| C'est un livre. | It is a book. | seh uhn lee-vruh |
| C'est une maison. | It is a house. | seh ün meh-zon |
| Voilà un café. | Here is a café. | vwa-la uhn ka-fay |
| Voilà une table. | Here is a table. | vwa-la ün tab-luh |
| C'est un ami. | He is a friend. | seh uhn a-mee |
| C'est une amie. | She is a friend. | seh ün a-mee |
| C'est l'école. | That is the school. | seh lay-kol |
| Madame Khan est une amie. | Mrs Khan is a friend. | ma-dam kahn eh tün a-mee |
| Amelie est une étudiante. | Amelie is a student. | a-may-lee eh tün ay-tü-dyahnt |
| Ali est un étudiant. | Ali is a student. | a-lee eh tuhn ay-tü-dyahn |
| Voilà un homme et une femme. | Here is a man and a woman. | vwa-la uhn om eh ün fam |
| Les livres sont ici. | The books are here. | lay lee-vruh son ee-see |
| Ce sont des livres. | Those are books. (preview of lesson 12) | suh son day lee-vruh |
| Les étudiants sont prêts. | The students are ready. | lay-zay-tü-dyahn son preh |
Dialogue: Au café — ordering a table
In a café you can simply say 'Un café, s'il vous plaît' — no long sentence needed. Use vous with the waiter.
| French | English | Say it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Bonjour, monsieur ! Un café, s'il vous plaît. | Hello, sir! A coffee, please. | bon-zhoor, muh-syuh, uhn ka-fay, seel voo pleh |
| B | Un café ? Voilà, monsieur. | A coffee? Here you are, sir. | uhn ka-fay, vwa-la, muh-syuh |
| A | Merci ! Et une table, s'il vous plaît. | Thank you! And a table, please. | mehr-see, eh ün tab-luh, seel voo pleh |
| B | Voilà une table. Vous êtes prêt ? | Here is a table. Are you ready? | vwa-la ün tab-luh, voo zet preh ↗ |
| A | Oui, je suis prêt. C'est bon, merci beaucoup ! | Yes, I am ready. That's fine, thank you very much! | wee, zhuh swee preh, seh bon, mehr-see bo-koo |
| B | De rien, monsieur. Au revoir ! | You're welcome, sir. Goodbye! | duh ryan, muh-syuh, o ruh-vwar |
Say it out loud
- un livre — a book Say the article and the noun as one word.
- une table — a table ün is the tight French u sound.
- le livre — the book le is a very short 'luh'.
- la maison — the house Keep 'on' in the nose.
- l'école — the school Do not say 'luh école' — it is one word.
- les livres — the books The plural -s is completely silent.
- des amis — some friends Link it: day-ZA-mee.
- C'est un livre. C'est une table. — It's a book. It's a table. Notice how only the article changes.
- Voilà une maison, un café et une école. — There's a house, a café and a school. 'et' links smoothly — say 'ay'.
Listening practice: Three things on the table
Bonjour ! Je suis Ali. Voilà un café, une table et un livre. C'est un livre. C'est une table. Voilà un homme et une femme. L'homme est un ami. La femme est une amie. Les amis sont prêts. Au revoir, à demain !
Hello! I am Ali. Here is a coffee, a table and a book. It is a book. It is a table. Here is a man and a woman. The man is a friend. The woman is a friend. The friends are ready. Goodbye, see you tomorrow!
Questions
- Who is speaking? Amelie / Ali / Madame Khan → Ali
- What is on the table? A book / A house / A school → A book
- How many people are there? One / Two / Three → Two
- Who is a friend? Only the man / Only the woman / Both of them → Both of them
- How does the script end? With au revoir / With merci / With pardon → With au revoir
Remember this
- Every French noun is masculine or feminine — there is no neutral.
- un + masculine noun (un livre), une + feminine noun (une maison).
- le + masculine (le livre), la + feminine (la maison), l' before a vowel (l'école).
- les = the (plural). des = some (indefinite plural).
- Always learn a noun together with its article: un livre, une table, le café.
- Gender clues: -tion, -té, -ette, and most words in -e are usually feminine.
- Gender clues: -ment, -eau, -age, -isme are usually masculine — but there are many exceptions.
- Make a plural by adding a silent -s: le livre → les livres (same sound).
- Nouns already ending in -s, -x or -z do not change in the plural.
- Liaison: des amis = day-ZA-mee, les amis = lay-ZA-mee.
Common mistakes
| Instead of | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| une livre (for a book) | un livre | Livre = book is masculine. 'Une livre' is a completely different word (a pound in weight or money). |
| le école | l'école | le and la cannot stand in front of a vowel; they become l'. |
| des livre | des livres | des always goes with a plural noun — you need the silent -s on the noun too. |
| Learning the word 'maison' on its own | Learning 'une maison' and 'la maison' | A French noun without its article is like an English verb without a subject. Learn them as one block. |
| Saying the -s of 'les livres' | Saying 'lay lee-vruh' | The plural -s of a noun is silent. Only liaisons before a vowel wake it up. |
Practice questions
- Which article goes with 'livre'? une / un / la / des — un
- Which article goes with 'maison'? un / le / une / les — une
- 'des livres' means: the book / some books / the books / a book — some books
- Which is correct for 'the school'? le école / la école / l'école / les école — l'école
- Words ending in -tion are usually: masculine / feminine / plural / neutral — feminine
- Words ending in -ment are usually: feminine / masculine / neither / always plural — masculine
- How do you make 'un livre' plural? un livres / des livre / des livres / les livre — des livres
- In 'les livres', the final -s is: said like 's' / silent / said like 'z' / said like 'es' — silent
- Which one is feminine? un café / une table / le livre / un homme — une table
- You want to talk about ONE specific book. Which is right? un livre / des livres / le livre / une livres — le livre
Homework (15 minutes)
1) Look around your room and choose 10 objects. Write each one in French WITH its article, guessing masculine or feminine from the ending. 2) Copy this table three times: un livre / une maison / le livre / la maison / les livres / des livres. 3) Say each of your 10 objects out loud twice, always with the article: 'un livre', never just 'livre'. 4) Write 5 sentences with C'est + un/une + noun about things in your home.
Lesson 8 of 45 · Part 1 · Core Grammar & Daily Life · See the full A0 → A2 roadmap · Français A0 → A2