Module II·Article III·~3 min read
Articles and Gender of Nouns
Verbs être/avoir and Basic Structures
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Grammatical Gender in French
Every noun in French has a grammatical gender: masculine (masculin) or feminine (féminin). Unlike Russian, there is no neuter gender here. And—the main difficulty—the grammatical gender often does not coincide with the natural gender and cannot be guessed by meaning!
Examples:
- le bureau [le bureau] — office (masc.) ✓ logical
- la table [la table] — table (fem.) — why? tradition!
- le problème — problem (masc.) — although in Russian it's fem.
- la solution — solution (fem.)
- le client — client (masc.)
- la cliente — female client (fem.)
Useful suffixes for determining gender:
Masculine: -age (le garage, le management, le bilan), -ment (le document, le développement), -eur (le directeur, le secteur), -isme, -ist, -al (le capital), -eau (le bureau, le château)
Feminine: -tion/-sion (la solution, la décision, la formation), -ité (la qualité, la société), -ure (la procédure), -ance/-ence (la performance, la référence), -ie (la stratégie, la comptabilité)
Practical tip: Learn the word immediately with the article: not just “bureau,” but “le bureau.”
Articles: Complete System
Definite Articles (the)
| Gender | Article | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | le | le marché (market) |
| Feminine singular | la | la réunion (meeting) |
| Before vowel/h | l' | l'investissement, l'hôtel |
| Plural (both genders) | les | les contrats (contracts) |
Contraction (contraction):
- de + le = du: le prix du marché — price of the market
- de + les = des: les résultats des ventes — sales results
- à + le = au: aller au bureau — go to the office
- à + les = aux: parler aux clients — talk to clients
Indefinite Articles (a/an, some)
| Gender | Article | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | un | un contrat (a/one contract) |
| Feminine singular | une | une offre (some/a proposal) |
| Plural (both genders) | des | des projets (some projects) |
Partitive Articles (some/quantity)
| Form | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| du (de + le) | Uncountable masc. | du temps (time) |
| de la | Uncountable fem. | de la patience (patience) |
| de l' | Before vowel | de l'argent (money) |
| des | Plural | des informations |
When the Article Is NOT Used
- Before profession/nationality with être: Je suis directeur (not “un directeur”)
- After negation with de: Je n'ai pas de temps (not “du temps”), Il n'y a pas de problème
- Before proper names (no exceptions: le France... no! But: la France — country, le Japon — country)
- In enumerations (often): qualité, service, innovation
Business Vocabulary with Articles
| Word | Article | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| marché | le | market |
| contrat | le | contract |
| projet | le | project |
| budget | le | budget |
| investissement | l' (m) | investment |
| réunion | la | meeting |
| société | la | society, company |
| stratégie | la | strategy |
| performance | la | performance |
| accord | l' (m) | agreement, contract |
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