By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say "a", "an" and "some" in French, choose between un livre and le livre, and name the things around you with c'est un… and ce sont des….
Three words for "a" and "some"
In the lesson on le, la and les you learned how to say "the". The words in this lesson do a different job. They introduce something without saying exactly which one.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un | uhn | a, an, one (masculine)un livre (a book) |
| une | ewn | a, an, one (feminine)une table (a table) |
| des | day | some (all plurals)des livres (some books, or just 'books') |
As with le and la, the choice between un and une depends on the gender of the noun. Des is the plural for both genders: des livres, des tables.
Two details are different from le and la:
- Un and une never shorten. You write l'ami but un ami, and l'école but une école.
- The n of un links to a vowel. On its own, un ends in a nasal sound. Before a vowel, as in un ami, you also hear an n that joins the two words. The s of des links in the same way, with a z sound: des amis.
A book, or the book?
French and English mostly agree on this. Use un, une or des for any one of something, or something you're mentioning for the first time. Use le, la or les when you and your listener know exactly which one you mean.
- Voici un stylo. (Here's a pen. Any pen, new to the conversation.)
- Le stylo est ici. (The pen is here. The one we were just talking about.)
- C'est le sac de Paul. (It's Paul's bag. A particular bag.)
Voici une clé.
Here's a key.
La clé est ici.
The key is here.
Naming things
Now you can point at something and say what it is. Use c'est for one thing and ce sont for several. C'est comes from the lesson on être, and sont is the ils/elles form of the same verb.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| c'est un… / c'est une… | seh tuhn / seh tewn | it's a…, that's a… |
| ce sont des… | suh sohn day | they're…, those are… |
| voici | vwah-SEE | here is, here are |
| Qu'est-ce que c'est ? | kess-kuh SEH | What is it? What's that?C'est quoi ? is the casual version. |
Qu'est-ce que c'est ? — C'est un ordinateur.
What is it? — It's a computer.
C'est une maison.
It's a house.
Ce sont des chaises.
They're chairs.
C'est un ami.
He's a friend.
In relaxed conversation you'll also hear c'est des livres. It's fine to recognize, but use ce sont des livres when you write.
You may remember that être gives a job or status with no article: Je suis étudiant. After c'est, the article comes back: C'est un étudiant (He's a student).
Here are some everyday things to practise with. Say each one aloud with its article.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un sac | uhn SAHK | a bag |
| un stylo | uhn stee-LOH | a pen |
| un téléphone | uhn tay-lay-FONN | a phone |
| un ordinateur | uh-nor-dee-nah-TUHR | a computer |
| une chaise | ewn SHEZ | a chair |
| une clé | ewn KLAY | a key |
| une voiture | ewn vwah-TEWR | a car |
| une maison | ewn may-ZOHN | a house |
Now try it for real: look around the room, point at three things, and name each one with c'est un… or c'est une…. If you don't know the gender, look it up and say the whole phrase again.
What's next
Next, the lesson on plural nouns shows what happens to the noun itself after des and les. The lesson on avoir puts un, une and des to work in sentences like "I have a car". Later, the lesson on negation shows how these articles change in negative sentences.