---
title: "French articles: definite, indefinite and partitive"
description: "Le, la, les, un, une, des, du, de la: how to use French articles, when to use the partitive and the typical mistakes English speakers make, with examples."
url: "https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-articles"
lang: "en"
author: "Thierry Gustin"
published: "2026-10-30"
updated: "2026-11-07"
---

# French articles: definite, indefinite and partitive

> **Key takeaways** — French has three types of articles. Definite articles (le, la, l', les) introduce something known or general; indefinite articles (un, une, des), something countable; and partitive articles (du, de la, de l'), an unspecified amount of something uncountable: je bois du café (I drink coffee). Unlike English, French almost never leaves a noun without an article, even in general statements or where English would say "some" or nothing at all.

**French articles** look easy until the famous *du pain* comes along. The problem is not learning the forms, but grasping one fundamental difference from English: **French almost never leaves a noun without an article**. Where English says "I eat bread", "I like chocolate" or "I have friends", French needs an article every time.

## What are the French articles?

**French articles**

| Type | Masculine | Feminine | Before a vowel or silent h | Plural |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Definite | le | la | l' | les |
| Indefinite | un | une | un / une | des |
| Partitive | du | de la | de l' | des |

## When do you use the definite article?

As in English, the definite article (*le, la, l', les*) introduces something **known** or **unique**: *Le livre de Marie* (Marie's book), *la tour Eiffel*. But French also uses it in places where English has no article at all:

- **With likes, dislikes and general statements**: *J'aime le chocolat.* (I like chocolate.) *Les chats sont indépendants.* (Cats are independent.)
- **With days of the week, for a habit**: *Le lundi, je vais à la piscine* (on Mondays, I go to the pool).
- **With countries**: *la France, le Mexique, les États-Unis* (but no article after *en*: *en France*).

It also combines with the prepositions *à* and *de*: **à + le = au**, **à + les = aux**, **de + le = du**, **de + les = des**. *Je vais au cinéma.* (I am going to the cinema.) *Le livre du professeur.* (The teacher's book.)

## When do you use the indefinite article?

*Un, une, des* introduce something **countable** that has not been identified: *J'ai un frère et deux sœurs.* (I have a brother and two sisters.) *Il y a des enfants dans le parc.* (There are children in the park.) Watch out for *des*: English often uses no article ("there are children") or "some", but in French *des* is compulsory.

## What is the partitive article?

The partitive (*du, de la, de l'*) refers to **an unspecified part** of something **uncountable**: food, materials, qualities. It corresponds to "some" or "any" in English, or more often to no article at all.

- *Je mange du pain.* (I eat bread / I am eating some bread.)
- *Tu veux de la confiture ?* (Would you like some jam?)
- *Il faut de l'eau et de la patience.* (You need water and patience.)
- *Elle fait du sport.* (She does sport.)

The difference from the definite article is one of meaning: *J'aime le café* (I like coffee, in general) but *Je bois du café* (I drink coffee, an amount of it).

## When do they become "de"?

This rule causes many mistakes. **Indefinite and partitive articles become de** (or *d'*):

1. **In the negative**: *J'ai un chien* → *Je n'ai pas de chien.* (I don't have a dog.) *Je bois du café* → *Je ne bois pas de café.* (I don't drink coffee.)
2. **After an expression of quantity**: *beaucoup de livres, un peu de sucre, assez d'argent, un kilo de pommes.*

But the **definite article does not change**: *J'aime le café* → *Je n'aime pas le café.* Nor does anything change with *être*: *Ce n'est pas un problème.*

> **The classic mistake** — ✗ *Je n'ai pas des amis* → ✓ *Je n'ai pas d'amis.* ✗ *Beaucoup des gens* → ✓ *Beaucoup de gens.* Review negation in full in my article on [French negation](https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-negation).

## Typical mistakes English speakers make

1. **Leaving out the article in general statements**: ✗ *J'aime chocolat* → ✓ *J'aime le chocolat.* ✗ *Chats sont indépendants* → ✓ *Les chats sont indépendants.*
2. **Leaving out the partitive or the plural article**: ✗ *Je mange pain* → ✓ *Je mange du pain.* ✗ *J'ai frères* → ✓ *J'ai des frères.*
3. **Using the definite article instead of the partitive**: ✗ *Je bois le vin à table* (if you mean an amount) → ✓ *Je bois du vin.*
4. **Forgetting the contraction**: ✗ *à le cinéma* → ✓ *au cinéma.*
5. **Getting the gender wrong**: English nouns have no grammatical gender, so learn every French noun with its article. Endings can mislead you: *le problème, le système, le lait, le sel* are masculine; *la mer, la couleur* are feminine. Similar-looking words can be traps in other ways too: see [French-English false friends](https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-english-false-friends).

The pronoun *en* replaces precisely these partitive complements: *Du pain ? J'en veux.* (Bread? I'd like some.) I explain this in [the French pronouns y and en](https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-pronouns-y-and-en). To check the gender of a word, use a reference dictionary such as [Le Robert](https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between "du" as a partitive and "du" as a contraction?

The form is the same, but not the meaning: *Je mange du pain* (partitive: an amount of bread) versus *Le livre du professeur* (contraction of *de + le*: the teacher's book).

### Why do you say "en France" without an article?

With feminine countries and those starting with a vowel, *en* replaces *à la*: *en France, en Espagne, en Iran*. With masculine countries you use *au*: *au Mexique, au Canada*; and with plural ones, *aux*: *aux États-Unis*.

### Is it "des bons amis" or "de bons amis"?

In careful French, *des* becomes *de* before an adjective: *de bons amis*. In spoken French you will hear *des*, but in the DELF it is better to use *de*.

### Do days of the week take an article?

No article for a specific day (*lundi, je vais au médecin*: on Monday, I am going to the doctor's) and *le* for a habit (*le lundi, je vais au sport*: on Mondays, I go to the gym).

— Thierry Gustin, Profesor nativo de francés · November 7, 2026