Le/La/Les Exercise Corrections Flashcards
Gender of:
1) Counties
2) Regions + vin rhyme
1) Masculin - (exclu La Cornouaille)
2) Fem- ‘UNE region a UN vin’
Language rule
Always definite article in front of a language
e.g. Le français (apart from natives)
Friday Nights
Le Vendredi Soir
‘More than half’ translation
Plus de la moitié
Expression of Quantity
‘De’ (jamais de biere/ bouteille de vin)
A pound a kilo
une livre le kilo (uses definite article)
Beaucoup… (2)
DE - general
DES- specific
Jouer
- sport
- musical instrument
- Jouer A sport ou FAIRE DU SPORT
- Jouer DE musical instrument (Jouer un instrument)
Tout
e. g: bus
e. g. 2: every six weeks
‘Tout’ + definite article + noun
e. g. il y a un bus tous les quarts d’heure
e. g. toutes les six semaines
Exception to Quantity Expressions (4)
Instead followed by…
e.g. gateau
La plupart/ La majorité/ La minorité/ Bien des (in the sense of many)
the PARTITIVE
e.g. tu veux encore du gateau
Blonde hair and green eyes
- The girl with blue eyes
Les chevaux blonds + les yeux verts
- La fille aux yeux bleus
Profession (+ adj)
e.g. she would make a very talented personal shopper
Normalement- elle est mannequin
mais avec ADJECTIVE = need an article
e.g. elle ferait une acheteuse personnelle très talenteuse
Pair of… (+ examples_
UN - Un pantalon, un short, un collant, une culotte
de and adjectives
DE belles chaussettes
DES chaussettes exquises
Avoir besoin…
e.g. I need jumpers
de
e.g. J’ai besoin de pulls
Rule of ‘Islands’
Some used with/without articles
e.g. (La Crete/en Crete) vs (Malte/a Malte)
Forms of determiners/pronouns beginning with ‘h’
- Those which behave as if ‘h’ were a vowel (l’heroisme/j’hesite)
- ‘h’ were a consonant (le héros/ la haine)
Typical use (and exceptions) of the DEFINITE article (7)
- used with ‘the’ is deployed in english
- Refer to a general class/unique phenomenon/abstract quality
- with countries/regions/dep/states but NOT with some small european islands and their languages
- Languages- not with the expression ‘parler espagnol etc’ or fluency
- Seasons- l’hiver, le printemps etc (except en hiver, en printemps)
- With TITLES e.g. Monsieur Le Maire, Madame Le Pres (but not names of Kings/Queens: Francois premier)
- Expressions quoting prices for goods where english uses ‘a’ e.g. 5 euros LA piece
Definite article is usually used with parts of the body: (3)
1) Describing a person’s CHARACTERISTICS e.g. Il a les yeux bleus
2) When people do things to their OWN or OTHERS’ BODIES
e. g. Il a plisse les yeux
4) When the part of the body is used in an ADVERBIAL PHRASE/EXPRESSION
e. g. Elle est partie, les mains dans les poches
Possessive determiners (mon/ma/mes) are usually used: (2)
1) When the part of the body is the SUBJECT of the sentence e.g. Ma tete me fait mal
2) As an ALTERNATIVE to the definite article when people do things to others’ bodies e.g. je lui serre la main ou Je serre sa main
Rule for using singular
e.g. they raised their right hand
When reference is made to a singular part of the body/item of clothing/personal attribute = use french SINGULAR
e.g. Ils ont levé la main droit
Omission of des/du/de la/de l’ after the preposition ‘de’
1) When they follow the preposition DE = expressions like ‘des amis/du bois/de l’argent’ (i.e. indefinite and partitive expressions) LOSE their determiners
Examples of indefinite/partitive expressions losing their determiners:
1) aide + amis
2) besoin + argent
1) avec l’aide de + d’amis
= avec l’aide d’ amis
2) J’ai besoin de + de l’argent
= J’ai besoin d’argent
Examples of indefinite/partitive expressions keeping their determiners:
1) aide + amis
2) besoin + argent
1) avec l’aide de + les amis de Marie
= avec l’aide des amis de Marie
2) J’ai besoin de + de l’argent que j’ai économisé
= J’ai besoin de l’argent que j’ai économisé
Meanings of
1) d’autre
2) les autres
3) des autres
1) others
2) the others
3) of the others
adjectives and de/des
e.g. land and large land
Exception
Indefinite and partitive ‘des’ becomes ‘de’ when preceded by an adjective
e.g. des terres –> de grandes terres
Exception: If the adjective and noun phrases seen as a single unit (i.e. like a compound noun), then DES is used
e.g. des grands magasins/des petits poids
Uses of partitive articles (3)
e. g. 1: wood and garlic
e. g. 2: she is intelligent
1) With mass nouns where english use ‘some’ or NO article at all:
- du bois (some wood), de l’ail (some garlic)
2) With abstract nouns which attribute qualities to people or things
- Elle a de l’intelligence
3) when they accompany a direct object and follow a negation (ne.. pas/ne..plus) etc
Exceptions to partitive and negation (3)
- When verb is ETRE
- When the meaning is ‘not a single one’
- When the direct object is contrasted with something else
Omission of articles (4)
e.g. a map of France and a map of mainland France
1) In noun and noun constructions linked by DE (une carte de France)- unless the second noun is modified (une carte de la France metropolitaine)
2) In participle and noun constructions e.g. couvert de boue
3) With nouns in apposition (Versailles, palais de Louis XIV) unless the 2nd noun is modified: Versailles, le celebre palais de Louis XIV
4) With nouns following verbs like etre/devenir/demeurer/elire/nommer/rester (unless noun is modified)
List of Nouns
Either ALL or NO articles are omitted
