En français: l'article indéfini
We learned that the French universe is divided into masculine and feminine. If we go a larger universe, the Franco-English universe, there is going to be another main division: things you can count vs. things you cannot really count because they are one or one whole. The basic rule in both universes: if you can count it, you must state the quantity:
une pomme = one apple
deux pommes = two apples
trois pommes = three apples
trois mille pommes = three thousand apples
des pommes = apples or some apples or a few apples or few apples
un crayon = one pencil
deux crayons = ten pencils
trois crayons = three pencils
trois mille crayons = three thousand pencils
des crayons = pencils or some pencils or a few pencils or few pencils.
In English we say: I bought apples.
We do not have to put an article between bought and apples. However, just because we do not have to doesn't mean that we can't. It's perfectly fine to say in English: I bought some apples.
In French, you MUST say I bought SOME apples. The word for some is des: J'ai achété (I bought) des pommes.
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| Dans la peinture de Cézanne, il y a une table, une serviette, des pommes et il y a du vin. Mais il n'y a pas d'oranges. il n'y a pas de chaises. Il n'y a pas de lait. |
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| Milk is uncountable in both French and English. Just pour milk into a glass and see why! |
In English we say: I add cream or I bought some cream or I bought a little cream.
Cream is uncountable. In French it is also uncountable. It is also feminine. So in French you say J'ajoute de la crême. You must include the articles de + la.
Now here is a funny rule considering negation. In French all negatives, countable and uncountable will take the word pas plus the article de, or pas d' (with words that begin in vowels).
Examples (countable):
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
J'achète une pomme. Je n'achète pas de pomme.
J'achète deux pommes. Je n'achète pas de pommes.
J'achète des pommes. Je n'achète pas de pommes.
J'achète un crayon. Je n'achète pas de crayon.
J'achète deux crayons. Je n'achète pas de crayons.
J'achète des crayons. Je n'achète pas de crayons.
Examples (uncountable):
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
J'achète du lait. Je n'achète pas de lait.
J'achète de la crême. Je n'achète pas de crême.
J'achète de l'eau. Je n'achète pas d'eau.
More on this in a later lesson. This is just to give you a taste, an impression of what is to come. Today we are just going to focus on the countables: un, une or des.
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| Masculin ou feminin? Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a word is masculine or feminine in French. There are some clues, however. You'll eventually become an expert - even though it may take a long, long time! |
MASCULINE or FEMININE?
The French universe is divided into masculine and feminine.
Although it is one of the biggest challenges in French to know the gender of every important word, it is not as chaotic or random as it seems. Here are some tips that might be helpful:
1. Nouns referring to boys or men are almost always masculine.
They are introduced by un (a, an in English/ un en Español):
• un garçon /ɶ~. gaʀ.'sɔ~/ - a boy - un niño
• un ami /ɶ~. na.'mi/ - a boy who is a friend- un amigo
• un petit ami /ɶ~.pə.'ti.ta.'mi/ - a boyfriend- un novio
• un copain /ɶ~. kɔ.'pɑ~/- a companion - un compañero
• un homme /ɶ~.'nɶm/- a man - un hombre
• un père /ɶ~.'pɛʀ/- a father - un padre
• un professeur /ɶ~.'pʀɔf.søʀ/- a teacher - un profesor
• un Français /ɶ~.frɑ~.'sɛ/- a Frenchman - un Francés
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| There is a difference between un ami (friend who is a boy) and un petit ami (boyfriend - literally "little friend") Feminine version: une amie (a friend who happens to be a girl) and une petite amie (a girlfriend). Jean-Marc a des petites amies. Jean-Marc has girlfriends - Beware! In this case, Jean-Marc is a player! |
2. Nouns referring to girls or women are almost always feminine.
They are introduced by une (a, an in English/ una en Español):
• une fille /yn. 'fijə/ - a girl - una niña
• une amie /y. na.'mi/- a girl who is a friend - una amiga
• une petite ami /yn.pə.'ti.ta.'mi/ - a girlfriend- una novia
• une copine /yn. kɔ.'pin/- a companion - una compañera
• une femme /yn.'fam/- a woman - una mujer
• une mère /yn.'mɛʀ/- a mother - una madre
• une professeur /yn.'pʀɔf.søʀ/- a teacher - una profesora
• une Française /yn.'frɑ~.sɛz/- a Frenchwoman - una Francesa
3. As you learn the language, you will come across certain vocabulary sets that take one gender only.
For example, the name of the colors are always masculine:
• un bleu profond - a profound blue
• un rouge fort - a strong red
• un marron chocolat - brown the color of chocolate
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| Le rouge et le noir - a famous French novel by Stendhal. In French the name of the colors are all masculine! |
4. There are also pairs in French, often referring to professions or roles that have masculine and feminine versions. The gender is often reflected in the ending.
• un masseur (masculine) ; une masseuse (feminine) -
we have exactly the same distinction in the English language!
• un maître, une maîtresse (English master and mistress)
• un directeur, une directrice (director, directress*) In English, we have dropped many of the feminine forms. Women are now known as *director if they are in that position).
• un étudiant, une étudiante (add -e to make the word feminine)
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| Des pingouins - quite a few, actually! Even though the indefinite article des can mean "some" or " a few" - in this particular picture it does not. The word des means simply "more than one" - whether it is two or two million. If we were to put an English title on this photo it would be "Penguins" - but even here the translation is faulty. In English "penguins" can also mean "all penguins". In French to include every breathing penguin on Earth, you would need to mark it with the definite article "Les pingouins". Of course we will learn how to say "beaucoup de pingouins" or "many penguins" in a future lesson!. |
THE PLURAL FORM in the INDEFINITE
The plural form is expressed with des
• des garçons /de. gaʀ.'sɔ~/ - (some/ a few) boys - (unos) niños
• des filles /de. 'fijə/ - (some/ a few) girls - (unas) niñas
• des amis /de. za.'mi/ - (some/ a few) friends who are boys
or a mix of boys and girls - (unos) amigos
• des amies /de. za.'mi/- (some/ a few) friends who are
exclusively girls - (unas) amigas
• des petits amis /de.pə.'ti.tsa.'mi/ -(some/ a few) boyfriends
- (unos) novios
• des petites amies /de.pə.'ti.tsa.'mi/ -(some/ a few) girlfriends
- (unas) novias
• des copains /de. kɔ.'pɛ~/ same meaning as des amis
• des copines /de. kɔ.'pin/ same meaning as des amies
• des hommes /de.'zɶm/- (some/ a few) men - (unos) hombres
• des femmes /de.'fam/- (some/ a few) women - (unas) mujeres
• des parents /de.pa.'ʀɑ~/- parents - (unos) padres
• des professeurs /de.'pʀɔf.søʀ/- (some/ a few) teacher
- (unos) profesores
• des Français /de.frɑ~.'sɛ/- (some/ a few) Frenchmen
- (unos) Franceses
• des Françaises /de.frɑ~.'sɛz/- (some/ a few) Frenchwomen
- unas Francesas
I am inviting friends
I am inviting some friends
I am inviting a few friends
In Spanish (unos/ unas) is also optional:
Invito amigos
Invito unos amigos
Invito amigas
Invito unas amigas
In French des is never optional. You CAN'T omit! It is required!
J'invite des amis
J'invite des amies
Je regarde des garçons.
Il y a des filles dans la classe.
EXERCICE:
Make a list of nouns you know using un / une / des
un
|
une
|
des
|
un garçon
un étudiant
|
une fille
une étudiante
une étoile
|
des garçons des filles des étudiants des étoiles |
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Français 1-Unité 1, p. 16
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