French Grammar : Basics About The French Nouns

French nouns are either MASCULINE or FEMININE, like nouns in Spanish and many other
languages.   As in English, nouns usually add s to form the plural.  However, a few nouns form the plural in other ways, For example, nouns ending in - al - change the ending to - aux (cheval (horse), chevaux (horses)).

With a masculine noun, the word for the is le (singular) and with a feminine noun it is la.  If a noun begins with a vowel, the e or a is dropped and the article is thus always - l' - . 

Example :

le garçon  (the boy)       la fille (the girl)       l'ami (the male friend)          l'amie (the female friend)
les garçons  (the boys)    les filles (the girls)   les amis (the male friends)  les amies (the female friends)



If a group of friends includes both males and females, then the masculine form, les amis is always used.

Although le/la/l'/les are generally used in a similar way to the in English, there are some differences. In particular, the French words are used in general statements where the English noun would not need any article.


J'aime le fromage  =  I like cheese         Jacques aime la bière = Jack likes beer



The prepositions de (of, from) combines  with le to form du and  with les to form des.  In the same way, à (to) +  le  is shortened to au and à + les becomes aux.

du  garçon (of the boy)   au  garçon (to the boy)   des  garçons (of the boys)   aux  garcons (to the boys)



As well as of the, du/de la/de l'/des  can also mean some (e.g. du fromage = some cheese, des enfants = some children).  With nouns which would be uncountable in English and also with plural nouns referring to a group of persons or objects not previously mentioned,  French normally has to have the du/de la/de l'/des but in English we are free to use `some; or just to use the noun on its own. Thus:

Je mange du pain = I'm eating bread / I'm eating some bread
Il y a des filles dans la chambre = There are girls in the room / There are some girls in the room



In  negative sentence, where English normally uses any instead of some, French has just de instead of
du/de la/de l'/des

Il ny a pas DE fromage  = There isnt any cheese.        Il y a DU fromage  =  Theres some cheese.



The indefinite article (a, an) is un (masculine) before singular nouns and une before feminine ones. The use of these words is roughly similar to the English system, but there are some differences. For example, un/une is omitted when we state what someones job is:
   
Mon père est médecin  =  My father is a doctor

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