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The French Indefinite Articles Un Une Des

What are the French Indefinite Articles? Un Une Des

The French Indefinite Articles: Un – Une – Des, are just like in English, used in a lot of sentences. Which means that you have to master them even as a beginner. The good thing is that they are not very hard to use and follow a few regular and easy rules of French grammar.

To know when to use them properly, you need to know if the following noun is feminine or masculine. Check this rule here for the gender of nouns.

We use indefinite articles to talk about unspecified things or people.

 

Here is the table for the French indefinite articles UN UNE DES: 

UN + masculine noun a / an

UNE + feminine noun a / an

DES + plural noun, masculine or feminine Some 

 

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    French Indefinite Articles

    The French Indefinite articles: un une des
    Un - Une - Des

    The French Indefinite Article UN

    Like said at the beginning, UN is always used for masculine nouns. The pronunciation will slightly change if the noun starts with a consonant or a vowel, as well is the noun starts with a H muet or a H aspiré.

    A few examples when the noun starts with a consonant: 

    • Un garçon – A boy 
    • Un chat – A cat
    • Un sac – A bag
    • Un téléphone – A phone
    • Un cactus – A cactus

    A few examples when the noun starts with an H aspiré (acting as a consonant):

    • Un hibou – An owl
    • Un haricot – A bean
    • Un hamburger – A hamburger
    • Un hérisson – A hedgehog

    Because H acts as a consonant, we don’t add a LIAISON between the article and the noun.

    Now when the noun starts with a vowel or a H muet (acting as a vowel):

    • Un appartement – An apartment
    • Un achat – A purchase
    • Un ordinateur – A computer
    • Un hélicoptère – A helicopter
    • Un hiver – A winter

    In this case, you can add a LIAISON between the article and the noun with an N sound. Here they are noted in red.

    • Un Nappartement – An apartment
    • Un Nachat – A purchase
    • Un Nordinateur – A computer
    • Un Nhélicoptère – A helicopter
    • Un Nhiver – A winter

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    The French Indefinite Article UNE

    The French indefinite article UNE is easier to pronounce than UN because its pronunciation never changes. We always pronounce the letters separately U followed by N, but we don’t pronounced the final E.

    The only thing to remember before using UNE in French is that it’s only used with a feminine noun

    A few French nouns with UNE:

    • Une idée – An idea
    • Une télévision – A television
    • Une plante – A plant
    • Une montre – A watch
    • Une femme – A woman
    • Une photo – A picture
    • Une balade – A walk 
    • Une feuille – A piece of paper
    • Une girafe – A giraffe 
    • Une couleur – A colour

    The French Indefinite Article DES

    The French indefinite article DES is use with plural nouns. Just like UN, it also changes pronunciation depending if the following noun starts with a vowel or a consonant, or a H muet or H aspiré. The rule is exactly the same with UN and DES

    The good news is that no matter if the noun is feminine or masculine, we will use DES. No need to know the gender to use the plural French indefinite articles. Lucky! 

    A few examples when the noun starts with a consonant:

    • Des garçons – Boys
    • Des chats – Cats
    • Des sacs – Bags
    • Des téléphones – Phones
    • Des cactus – Cacti

    A few examples when the noun starts with a H aspiré (acting as a consonant):

    • Des hiboux – Owls
    • Des haricots – Beans
    • Des hamburgers – Hamburgers
    • Des hérissons – Hedgehogs

    Because H acts as a consonant, we don’t add a LIAISON between the article and the noun. 

    Now when the noun starts with a vowel or a H muet (acting as a vowel):

    • Des appartements – Apartments
    • Des achats – Purchases
    • Des ordinateurs – Computers
    • Des hélicoptères – Helicopters
    • Des hivers – Winters

    In this case, you can add a LIAISON between the article and the noun with a Z sound. Here they are noted in red.

    • Des Zappartements – Apartments
    • Des Zachats – Purchases
    • Des Zordinateurs – Computers
    • Des Zhélicoptères – Helicopters
    • Des Zhivers – Winters

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    The French Indefinite Articles UN UNE DES in examples

    The French article UN in sentences:

    • Je mange un yaourt – I am eating a yogurt
    • Elle vient d’acheter un livre – She just bought a book
    • Est-ce que tu as un sac pour moi ? – Do you have a bag for me?
    • On a réservé un week-end en France  – We booked a weekend in France
    • Il y a un nouveau magasin dans le centre ville – There is a new store downtown

    The French article UNE in sentences:

    • Je vais prendre une tasse de café – I will have a cup of coffee
    • Est-ce que tu as une idée ? – Do you have an idea?
    • Elle a une nouvelle copine – She has a new girlfriend
    • Tu veux une orange ? – Do you want an orange?
    • C’est une belle maison –  It’s a beautiful house

    The French article DES in sentences: 

    • Il y a des gens dans la rue – There are people in the street
    • On a fait des achats – We made some purchases
    • L’école a acheté des ordinateurs – The school bought computers
    • On a entendu des hélicoptères – We hard helicopters
    • Il a des gants – He has gloves

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      22 Responses

              1. All chapters are made to learn French so no need to use French language with English Your chapters are amazing and I am learning French too fast.

      1. Pls help me in this
        Change the article using Le, la Les, l’
        1. Un gombo……
        2. Une mangue….
        3. Un Ami….
        4. Des biscuits….
        5. Une orange…

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      About Dylane

      Dylane is the owner & founder of “The perfect French with Dylane”, a YouTube channel and website where she teaches students from all around the world all the aspects of the French language.

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