French Conversation · Level 3
88 words
French word
le
Pronunciation
IPA/lə/
Meaning
- articlethe
Example
Le café est chaud.
The coffee is hot.
More examples
Le train arrive le matin.
The train arrives in the morning.
Core concept
A short label before a familiar masculine singular noun.
Common phrases
le train
the train
le matin
the morning
le soir
the evening
Similar words
la: The definite article for a specific singular feminine noun, becoming l' before a vowel or silent h.
l': The definite article's shortened form before a vowel or silent h.
les: The definite article for specific plural nouns, whether masculine or feminine.
un: The indefinite article for one nonspecific singular masculine noun.
Definition in French
S'emploie pour marquer qu'un nom masculin singulier est connu, identifiable ou unique dans le contexte, et qui s'abrège en l' devant une voyelle.
Word origin
French le comes through Old French from Latin ille, a demonstrative whose use for identifiable nouns developed into the definite article.
Usage tips
- As an article, le stands before the noun, while the object pronoun le usually stands before a conjugated verb, as in Je le vois.
Other meanings
- itpronoun
- himpronoun
Opposites
- unaarticle
- dessomearticle