L'article contracté (The contracted article)
When the prepositions à and de are combined with the definite article, they are contracted called Les articles contractés.
With the Prepositions de (of, from)
| preposition + definite | article contracté | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| de + le | du (before masc sing nouns) | - Le chapeau du garçon (the hat of the boy) - du directeur(of/from the manager) |
| de + la | de la (before fem sing nouns) | - Le pull de la fille (the sweater of the girl) - de la région (of/from the area) |
| de + l' | de l' (before masc and fem sing nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h) | - La mère de l'enfant (the mother of the child(masc)) - la mère de l'étudiante(the mother of the student(fem)) - de l'usine (of/from the factory) |
| de + les | des (before plur of masc and fem nouns) | - La mère des enfants (the mother of childrens) - des chômeurs (of/from the unemployed) |
Pronunciation: the s of des is pronounced z when the noun following it begins with a vowel or a silent h
With the Prepositions à (to , at)
| preposition + definite | article contracté | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| à + le | au (before masc sing nouns) | - il parle au garçon (he speaks/talks to the boy) - Au restaurant (at / to the restaurant) |
| à + la | à la (before fem sing nouns) | - il parle à la fille (he speaks/talks to the girl) - à la plage (at/to the beach) |
| à + l' | à l' (before masc and fem sing nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h) | - il parle à l'enfant (he speaks/talks to the child(masc)) - il parle à l'étudiante (he speaks/talks to the student(fem)) - à l’aéroport (at/to the airport) |
| à + les | aux (before plur of masc and fem nouns) | - il parle aux garçons (he speaks/talks to the boys) - Aux enfants (to the childrens) |
Pronunciation: the x of aux is pronounced z when the noun following it begins with a vowel or a silent h
Note: Before a proper noun (names), articles are not used and only the preposition à or de are used (de becomes d' before noun beginning with vowels)
- Je parle à Marie (I speaks/talks to Marie).
- C'est le pull de Marie (Its the sweater of Marie).
- Ce sont les chaussures de Pierre (these are the shoes of Pierre/ These are Pierre's shoes).
- Le père de Cathline et d'Anne (the father of Cathline and Anne/ Cathline and Anne's father).