Understanding French articles: when to use the DEFINITE, INDEFINITE and PARTITIVE articles

Read more in my blog about French articles: learnfrenchwithalexa.com/blog...
In this video, we will explore the fascinating world of French articles. We will delve into the three main types of articles in the French language: indefinite, definite, and partitive articles.
French indefinite articles are used to refer to a non-specific person, place, or thing. We'll cover when to use "un" and "une" and the rules around gender agreement in French.
Definite articles in French are used to refer to a specific person, place, or thing. We'll explore when to use "le", "la", "les", and the different situations in which each is appropriate.
Finally, we'll discuss partitive articles, which are used to refer to an unspecified quantity of something. We'll cover when to use "du", "de la", and "des", as well as the difference between partitive and indefinite articles.
Whether you're a beginner just starting out with French or a more advanced learner looking to refine your grammar skills, this video has something for you. By the end, you'll have a solid understanding of French articles and be ready to use them with confidence in your French speaking and writing.
Bisou Bisou 💋
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Alexa Polidoro a real French teacher with many years experience of teaching French to adults and children at all levels. People from all over the world enjoy learning how to speak French with Alexa's popular online video and audio French lessons. They're fun, friendly and stress-free! It's like she's actually sitting there with you, helping you along... Your very own personal French tutor.
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[@mainadonaldson]

"You MUST have an article in front of a noun or the sentence will lose its meaning". For some reason this made a lightbulb go on for me, and it will make things like "J'apprend LE francais" easier to remember.

[@cyruschang1904]

It is not true or not always true. For example, you can say either Je parle français or Je parle le français But you must say J'apprendS le français (do not forget the S)

[@GorgieClarissa]

​@Cyrus Chang so true. I can also said je suis professeure, je suis vegetarianne, je suis étudient. French is fun! Every rule has exceptions! No meaning loss!

[@Gary-pe4ce]

​@@GorgieClarissa professions are an interesting one. Je suis étudiant. But add an adjective and it becomes Je suis un étudiant paresseux.

[@cyruschang1904]

@@Gary-pe4ce No no, français can be either a noun (= la langue française or a French national if written with a capital F) or an adjective, but never an adverb (look up the word français in a French dictionary if you need verification). The French people often say "il parle un bon français" (he speaks very good French) as a compliment to someone.

[@dennisleas8996]

"You MUST have an article in front of a noun..." while helpful, is a simplification. Nice, but too simple and I wish instructors (and books) would stop saying this. Based on this rule, I started writing, "Je vois deux les garçons." After all, you MUST have an article in front of a noun. Then I learned about determiners and my life improved. But I had to unlearn this rule.

[@grllsgris]

Thank you! This explained articles 100x better than my teacher could

[@MrYoav5]

Can't believe how much I needed this lesson, thank you 🙏

[@kf4670]

I love the way you explain everything! I went to you over my college professor because he couldn’t explain the difference between “qui” and “que” so that I could understand. Love you!❤

[@rasikaaaa1066]

Hey there! Here i have something for you "Qui" and "que" are both pronouns in French, but they are used in different ways: - "Qui" is used to refer to people and, less commonly, to animals or things when they are personified. It is used as the subject of a verb or as the object of a preposition. For example: "Qui est-ce qui parle ?" (Who is speaking?) or "La fille qui habite ici" (The girl who lives here). - "Que" is used to refer to people, animals, things, or ideas as the direct object of a verb. It can also be used as the object of a preposition. For example: "J'ai vu la voiture que tu as achetée" (I saw the car that you bought) or "Il parle de ce dont il rêve" (He talks about what he dreams of). In summary, "qui" refers to the subject of a verb or the object of a preposition, while "que" refers to the direct object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

[@parveengandharv4789]

S

[@mkgmanu]

​@@rasikaaaa1066hi Rasika I am impressed by your french knowledge 😍 Have you done DELF/DALF higher level? Will you be my friend 😊

[@rasikaaaa1066]

@@mkgmanu thanks😁 I'm on A1 level,i had the same question,i searched on google...and found so sure

[@TanyaLanguageCoaching]

Very useful! Very well explained. And fun to watch.

[@malcolmjamesturner]

Great lessons. Beautiful teacher ❤

[@lynndaniel5881]

I looove this lesson. Thanks for making it clear.

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

Glad you enjoyed it Lynn! :)

[@soyebrahman9500]

One of the best teacher ever

[@rafadydkiemmacha7543]

In Polish we use cases for this difference. If you want a cake, you'd use an accusative case: "Chcę ciasto". But if you want some cake, you'd use genitive case and say "Chcę ciasta". This can be confusing for foreigners, as "ciasta" is also just plural for cake in Polish, but in this case (pun!) it's singular in a genitive case.

[@itsmejanny]

Thank you - I needed it explained this way to really get it.

[@connoisseurification]

Awesome teacher to clarify things for English speakers. Now i know those funny two or three letter words when i come across them in my French lessons.

[@sa21g22g23]

Merci beaucoup pour cette important et grand leçon du debut et matin de jeudi pour pouvoir comprendre mieux la belle grammaire française

[@sa21g22g23]

Muchas y mil disculpas sise me repitió 2 veces la información ya que se roban mi wifi

[@everydayopera9137]

Merci beaucoup! Votre chaîne est vraiment fantastique!

[@maxwellmhaka329]

Merci beaucoup Alexa, vous êtes le meilleur.

[@faizalhossen2289]

Melbourne, Australie. Merci pour cette leçon. Tres utile.

[@THatGuy-b9x]

Thanks. I was having trouble with this since a 2 weeks. Really helped me out

[@sunandawadyalkar6808]

Super explanation...merci beaucoup

[@onwumerebenjamin2005]

You are really a good teacher and explain thanks alot

[@belleofnewyork9554]

Great lesson thk you madame. I was always tripping up on these, brings me much clarity.

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

Glad it helped!

[@noufhalmaeily7981]

I really needed this lesson

[@bbpete8349]

merci pour les instructions!

[@DingleDingleCasil196]

Thanks for your teachings. You explains the words so clearly. Learned a lot. Stay always safe. Peace on EARTH. Merci.

[@spring6860]

Thanks a ton! You have no idea how much of a big help this is to me!

[@PaulRamone356]

Merci Beaucoup Madam Alexa!

[@UNEWS_ANIMATIONS]

great lesson.Thanks!!!

[@rajinarajeevmv4363]

Merci beaucoup madame ..... ❤❤ ❤❤

[@desiineurope1011]

Merci beaucoup ❤️

[@erikamanik148]

Merci beaucoup Alexa ❤

[@mernaabdo6124]

Merci beaucoup ❤

[@valeriemac679]

Thank you for cool lesson❤

[@okwuakpunonu]

Merci pour le vidéo. Bon boulot

[@russellperry9902]

Merci por la commitment. Thank you for your commitment.

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

❤️

[@faizalhossen2289]

Merci pour votre engagement.

[@user-mi3wu2gf8c]

Merci beaucoup 💐

[@zuzanapitrunova2107]

Thank you very much for the video! It was very helpful.

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

Avec plaisir ! ☺️

[@_1m-fOiV3_h3h3]

thanks you for this lesson its so easy to understanddd:)

[@skhalanekar]

Thank you Ma'am.

[@karensullivan3]

Oh wow I finally get it! Thank you

[@jakeplay1107]

Thank you it was so help full .when my teacher explained the same i didn't understand anything.merci

[@ReddShinii_71]

Merci beaucoup madam Alexa 🥰♥️!

[@yawenj3185]

Merci beaucoup! ❤❤

[@user-gx8yl4cq8k]

this helped so much thank you sm!

[@andrewsalmon100]

Encore une fois, une autre excellente leçon concise qui s'ajoute à mon français. Merci. Au café, je déguste un café avec du gâteau !

[@RobloxNPCsad]

Merci Madame tomorrow is my French exam😅

[@bisou1018]

Merci pour le vidéo C'est m'aide beaucoup 😅

[@shaoqinglihu696]

Now I understand where the “du pain” or “du beurre” comes from. Merci beaucoup ❤

[@maneeshpardeshi4032]

Great. Bon travai. Simple and effective

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Merci pour le leçon.

[@faizalhossen2289]

Melbourne, Australie. Salut, Pokhraj. On dit: "la leçon".

[@violetoyugi7250]

Thank you Alexa

[@maureenfrank]

merci beaucoup ❤

[@air-wizard]

Oi, bravo, I'm satisfied , you explain very well

[@nemiaochagabia2898]

Wow salute the way you explain:)

[@nasheemashahbazi6055]

🎉Thank you Alexa

[@bytheway1031]

Thanks Alexa👍

[@JuiceDrumandBass]

Very helpful!

[@hiongun]

another french mystery solved. merci.

[@randileebabcock4u]

Merci Madame! I passed the test!

[@DhhSgj-ut1zg]

J'ai adoré t'apprendre ❤

[@rinsang2447]

Merci Madame ❤

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

De rien! ☺️

[@stephanrichardson98]

Merci pour le lesson. Vous êtes un bon professeur

[@fedelicskaaria7289]

Super Leçon Alexa A bientot

[@ahmedzaki2651]

Thank u alexa

[@pepchallanga3626]

last night I dreamt of you Alexa and I was calling my friend, come and meet my professor...hoping one day will meet you my professor..may God keep u

[@the_activefoodie]

Awesome! Thank you so much for clearing this up!

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

My pleasure! 🥰

[@vidyavijaykumar7629]

Very well explained mam mercy beaucoup ❤

[@faizalhossen2289]

merci beaucoup.

[@MxMSuff]

Merci, Alexa

[@kguy2know]

your wonderful!!!

[@zehaohe7579]

Great explanation, thank you! But I do have a question: if the indefinite plural is des and also the partitive plural is des, are there any differences in meaning or usage between the two?

[@shrriyakallingal9487]

well, im no expert in french, but i think it depends upon the context j'ai des crayons (i have some crayons) des in this context is used for saying `some` but, des is also used for saying some in context of indefinite article...their difference would be , des in partitive is used for expressing unknown quantity., and moreover, its used mostly in food items (not always.)

[@sarahgarcia2850]

my son and I are doing a curriculum called The Easy French and he is writing his vocabulary words in French as lists. He wants to know if the article in front of the noun such as, L’animal and L’orange dictate the word's grouping of the word, being a L' word? Or the letter that follows the L' dictate its group, in this case A and O? I hope my question makes sense.

[@user-py7wp6nw9h]

My God, I looked at your very first youtube lesson waaay way back. So changed! Ah...life

[@bryanrajakumar3669]

what about de l' used for vowel or silent h noun like de l'eau

[@RobloxNPCsad]

Merci madam tomorrow is my French exam😅

[@ahmedzaki2651]

How much I struggled with verb+de...

[@maydaymaria470]

Is the plural form of indefinitive articles the same as the plural form of partitives? Does it have the same meaning?

[@cyruschang1904]

> => des is always an indefinite article EXCEPT when the noun is always in plural (never in singular). For example: des vacances (vacance does not exist) => here des is a partitive article because you can substitute des by un peu de, it is still correct : un peu de vacances des élèves => here des is an indefinite article because you cannot replace des by un peu de, neither un peu d'élèves or un peu d'élève makes any sense.

[@assiassi9115]

​@Cyrus Chang Just to add a precision regarding the word "vacance": it does exist, its use is limited to a position or role that wouldn't be occupied or provided. For example: "la vacance du pouvoir" the state of lacking someone who rules or occupies a leadership position. I hope this helped. 😊

[@cyruschang1904]

@@assiassi9115 YES 👍. It means vacancy, not vacation in English.

[@assiassi9115]

@@cyruschang1904 Right! Same sounding in French but different meaning in English, as in french the meaning of both words refers to the idea of something or someone absent. Cheers!

[@cyruschang1904]

@@assiassi9115 On dirait plutôt que c'est le même mot avec deux significations différentes 😀

[@laylaalquadi3492]

You are super, ❤ vous avez magnifique❤

[@faizalhossen2289]

vous êtes magnifique.

[@lovedjamessi7758]

Vous êtes magnifiques

[@darkside0094]

I live in France and I once said "Je veux du café" but the waitress understood "Je veux deux café" and so they gave me 2 cups of coffee

[@ishanbhattacharya8106]

But "du" and "de la" also refers to "of"

[@rafadydkiemmacha7543]

Yes, they do, but not in the context of "I want".

[@dishansachintha536]

They do also refer to "some,about, from, of, by", but context matters

[@abhaypratap802]

Yes but they aren’t partitive articles in those cases. Just like le, la and les can either be articles or COD depending on the context

[@faizalhossen2289]

Melbourne, Australia. You are right. It will depend on the sentence/context.

[@emmanuellaabang8436]

So we can use de la when the noun that comes after it is a feminine word, but u can't use de le when the noun is a masculine word....waawuu...tk u ma for this.

[@cyruschang1904]

When le is the definite article => du When le is a pronoun => de le

[@emmanuellaabang8436]

@@cyruschang1904 Can you please give an example....I don't quite get what u mean

[@cyruschang1904]

@@emmanuellaabang8436 In French, le can mean either the masculin definite article "the" or the masculin direct object pronoun (it, him) J'ai du vin => du vin = de + le vin, le = the Il m'a dit de voir ce film (he told me to see this movie) If we replace ce film by a pronoun, we will say Il m'a dit de le voir = he told me to see it Ma mère m'a dit de voir mon père (my mom told me to see my father) Elle m'a dit de le voir = she told me to see him

[@eliashansan9809]

Takk!

[@chromium7745]

What about the article “ce”?

[@cyruschang1904]

Ce is not an article. Ce can be a demonstrative pronoun (it): C'est un livre = it is a book C'est une pomme = it is an apple or a demonstrative adjective (this): J'aime ce (♂️) livre : I like this book J'aime cette (♀️) pomme : I like this apple J'aime ces (♂️♀️) livres/pommes : I like these books/apples

[@rupalichadda4504]

I have confusion regarding articles...like de bonnes notes....or des bonnes notes/de nouvelles choses/des nouvelles choses...how to differentiate them...please make a video regarding it

[@cyruschang1904]

If the adjective is between des and the plural noun, des becomes de: des nouvelles de bonnes nouvelles des balades magnifiques de magnifiques balades (magnifique is one of those few adjectives that can go before or after the noun without any change of meaning) EXCEPT when the "adjective + noun" is a fixed term des des

[@rupalichadda4504]

@@cyruschang1904 but we also use des petites choses ...my doubt is why not de petites choses ?

[@cyruschang1904]

@@rupalichadda4504 It should be " de petites choses". This is a grammar rule that more and more people are ignoring.

[@rupalichadda4504]

@@cyruschang1904 I too agree that it should be ' de petites choses,de nouvelles choses' except that when there is conjugation of ' de + les '= des

[@saramohee8341]

Thanks i have french final exam tomorrow 😅

[@argonwheatbelly637]

Même si ça fait des années, je m'en souviens encore.

[@Karmenasmr]

So, "Des" can be either indefinite or partitive?

[@shahroozeden8431]

Merci Mama bisous bisous

[@davmarsh]

you amazing

[@mrocksgamer3162]

Ma'am you taught 'des' in this video, but 'des ' is present in both partitive and indefinite article.. so how will we know which is being used?

[@cyruschang1904]

> => des is always an indefinite article EXCEPT when the noun is always in plural (never in singular). For example: des vacances (vacance does not exist) => here des is a partitive article because you can substitute des by un peu de, it is still correct : un peu de vacances des élèves => here des is an indefinite article because you cannot replace des by un peu de, neither un peu d'élèves or un peu d'élève makes any sense.

[@mrocksgamer3162]

@@cyruschang1904 okay.. thank you 👍

[@cyruschang1904]

@@mrocksgamer3162 I just thought of two instances where des = de les 1) verbal expressions (les locutions verbales) that require DE, such as avoir besoin de, avoir envie de, etc. if you see a sentence with such verbal expression, for example, j'ai besoin des outils qu'il m'a donnés, you know des is "de les" (I need the tools that he gave me) 2) when des means "of the" L'État de New York est un État des États-Unis (de + les États-Unis). The state of New York is a state of the (des) United States of America.

[@mrocksgamer3162]

@@cyruschang1904 okay sir! Thanks for the information... 🙏 Need to learn it by heart so that I can remember.. 😁

[@mael4824]

Merci meuf, tu es le sang de la veine sa mère

[@SimoSimo-wt9he]

ممكن الطرجمة باللغة العربية

[@rajeshkumarsanghai]

I want a cake . I want the cake . I want some cake .

[@michaelfisher9267]

I am wondering about the following: Du jus orange. Du jus d'orange. Du jus de l'orange.

[@grouloulle]

Du jus de l'or, Ange.

[@Gary-pe4ce]

Du jus d'orange = some orange juice When it comes to food items you only use the preposition de if it is the main ingredient, you don't use du or de la between the dish and main ingredient only de or d'.

[@sheesh8803]

Hi its a great video but can u please explain and help in examples thank u 🥰🥰

[@millzimatt]

I really dont want my sister's cake... great lesson tho

[@yusufsheriff2392]

Did you see that 🎉😂😢

[@anu_24011]

2:43 🗿

[@Samsuper-bi6rr]

I want the cake of my sister💀

[@ansonvinod3598]

Lol😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ruthojen]

We need to build you a statue

[@learnfrenchwithalexa]

Haha! I wouldn't mind... 😎

[@jarbincks6715]

so des= cats/des cats je veux le gateau de ma seour=i want my sister's cake de ma=someone's

[@Gary-pe4ce]

Des = some / the(plural) Example 《il y a des beaux gâteau à la boulangerie》 - there are beautiful cakes at the bakery Du = of the / some (unknown quantity which is masculine) 《Je veux du gâteau de ma sœur》 - I want my sister's cake De la = of the / some (unknown quantity that is feminine) 《Il va prendre de la limonade》- He will have lemonade Just be aware that english often neglects the word 'some' french does not.

[@jarbincks6715]

@@Gary-pe4ce Thank you so much for such a thorough explanation!The last bit about french using 'some' is also something I'm going to have to try extra hard to keep in mind as a native english speaker haha

[@ridgmont61]

Why not “Da farine”?

[@nasrin7921]

Don’t think that exists in french…

[@SisyphusTwo]

Amazing Alexa.... you speak perfect French .. Want to be my girlfriend. ?

[@minandychoi8597]

2:37 SWEET HOME ALABAMA

[@joelvanderkelen804]

Very good explanation. The definite article "le" is equivalent to "the"... But "Je veux le gâteau de ma soeur" is translated "I want the cake of my sister" or "my sister's cake". WITHOUT any "The". Congratulations for your good work. A very bad teacher. A Shame.