/le/
Translation
the (plural)
Word origin
The plural definite article, from Latin illos and illas ('those'), the accusative plural forms of ille ('that'), which weakened into the article.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- illos
Examples
.
The children have been playing in the garden since this morning.
.
The flowers on the table smell really good.
J' auteur .
I really like the books by this French author.
électriques populaires.
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular.
Tous , .
Every day I take the train to go to work.
Les is the plural definite article in French, used for both masculine and feminine nouns: les enfants (the children), les fleurs (the flowers). It is the plural of both le (masculine singular) and la (feminine singular), and unlike the singular forms it does not elide before a vowel. Instead, the final s links into the next word as a /z/ sound when liaison applies: les enfants is pronounced lez-enfants.
French uses the definite article in many places English drops it, especially with general statements: les chats aiment dormir (cats like to sleep), j'aime les pommes (I like apples). The contracted forms aux (from à les) and des (from de les) replace les after those two prepositions, but otherwise les stays the same in every position. See the French articles guide for how the full set fits together.
Used in
Stories
(12)Pas la même chose
2 min read · Core 1000
Seule dans la nuit
2 min read · Core 1000
Cuisiner ensemble
3 min read · Core 1000
La fête surprise
3 min read · Core 1000
Le bus manqué
3 min read · Core 1000
Le dernier train de la nuit
3 min read · Core 1000
Le nouveau docteur
3 min read · Core 1000
Le premier jour de travail
3 min read · Core 1000
Un après-midi de pluie
3 min read · Core 1000
Clara trouve sa place
4 min read · Core 1000
Un voyage difficile
4 min read · Core 1000
Une rencontre au marché
4 min read · Core 1000
Grammar articles
(34)French Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, and Position Rules
French Advanced Grammar (C1-C2): The Constructions That Sound Native
French Articles: Definite, Indefinite, Partitive, and the Article English Speakers Drop
French Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
French Comparatives: plus, moins, aussi and the Three Irregulars
Conjugating French -er Verbs in the Present Tense
French Demonstrative Pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles
French Demonstratives: ce, cet, cette, ces and the -ci / -là Distance Split
French Imparfait: One Stem, One Set of Endings, One Irregular
French Imperative: tu, nous, vous Commands and the Three Irregulars
French Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2): The Things That Stop You at the Plateau
French quel and lequel: Which and Which One
French Negation: ne... pas, jamais, rien, personne and the Colloquial ne-Drop
French Noun Gender: Why Every Noun Is Le or La, and the Endings That Give It Away
French Noun Plurals: Add -s, Say Nothing - the Article Does the Work
French Object Pronouns: me, te, le, la, lui, nous, vous, leur and the Preverbal Position
The French Present Participle and Gerund (le participe présent et le gérondif)
French Partitives and 'de': du, de la, des and the Negation Rule
Passé Composé vs Imparfait: How to Choose Between the Two French Past Tenses
French Passé Composé: avoir or être + Past Participle and the MRS VANDERTRAMP Set
The French Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait): The Past Before the Past
French Possessive Pronouns: le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur
French Possessives: mon, ma, mes and the mon-Before-Vowel Trap
French Prepositions: à, de, en, dans, sur, chez and the Mandatory Contractions
French Pronouns Y and EN: there, some, of it, of them
French Reflexive Verbs: se laver, se lever, s'appeler and the Singular Pronouns
French Relative Pronouns: qui, que, dont, où and How to Glue Clauses Together
French si Clauses: The Three Types of Conditional Sentence
French Stressed Pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles
The French Subjunctive After Necessity and Will
French Superlatives: le plus, le moins, and the Irregulars
French Time Expressions: depuis, pendant, il y a and pour
The French Passive Voice (la voix passive)
French Word Order: SVO, the Object Pronoun Inversion, and Six Rules That Cover 90% of Sentences
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 1.