In French, most nouns need to be introduced or 'determined' by an article. As in English, an article is either definite; le, la, l’, les ('the') or indefinite un, une, des, d’ ('a', 'an').
French articles are also masculine or feminine, singular or plural , according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the definite articles in French:
Masculine singular: le (l')
Masculine/feminine singular before a vowel: l’
Feminine singular: la (l')
Masculine and feminine plural: les
In the examples above, note that le and la both become l' when they precede a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h: l'escargot, l'université. This is called elision.
Unlike le and la, les does not have a contracted, reduced form. When les is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally silent final s of les is pronounced, making a / z/ sound. This additional sound linking two words is called liaison. Listen to the following examples:
Note that elision and liaison occur with most words starting with h: l'homme, les hommes, l'hiver, les hivers. Exceptions to this rule are words beginning with an aspirate 'h’ (there are very few. One is : le haricot [green bean]).
The definite article is used to identify a specific noun or to refer to a noun that has already been specified.
French uses the definite article to express general truths or concepts. English, in contrast, uses no article at all.
Compare the following sentences:
The French also use the definite article with verbs of preference, such as aimer, préférer, détester. English omits the article in such general statements. For example:
The definite article is used in French with moments of the day, days of the week, and seasons to indicate habitual recurrence. For example:
The article is usually repeated in a series, in contrast to English. For example:
Cities usually do not require an article in French. For example:
Continents, countries, states, regions, and oceans usually require an article (l'Afrique, la France, l’Illinois, le Québec (the province), l'Atlantique etc.), but there are a few exceptions, usually islands: Haïti, Israël, Madagascar. See prepositions with place names for more information.
Months never require an article: janvier, février, mars, etc.
Days of the week do not require an article in instances where they do not indicate habitual recurrence. For example: if it’s something you are doing one time.