TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lesson Plan 2: MAKING THINGS REALLY CLEAR WITH ARTICLES! ............... 2 Fast Forward! ........................................................................ 2 Define it ............................................................................ 2 Or not! ................................................................................ 2 Making Things Specific (Definite) in French..................................... 2 Par Exemple ............................................................. 3 Making Things General (Indefinite) in French................................... 5 Par Exemple ............................................................. 5 When Indefinite and Definite Work Together in French ...................... 5 A Versatile Word: De ............................................................. 6 Sounds in Pronunciation ......................................................... 6 Par Exemple ............................................................. 7 Par Exemple ............................................................. 8 Action Replay! ....................................................................... 9 More Audio!........................................................................... 9 Extra Words .............................................................. 9 Les Activits.........................................................................11 Le, La, L or Les?.................................................................11 Un, Une or Des? ..................................................................12 A Versatile Word, De .........................................................13 Un Jeu Dimages! ................................................................14 Les Rponses ........................................................................18 Le, La, Lor Les? .................................................................18 Un, Une, D or Des?..............................................................18 A Versatile Word, De ............................................................19 Un Jeu Dimages! ................................................................19

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Lesson Plan 2: MAKING THINGS REALLY CLEAR WITH ARTICLES!

Fast Forward!
Lesson Plan 2 is about the little words that make language really clear: The, A, Some, Several, Of, Of the and Any. As you work through this Lesson Plan, you will inevitably come across new words and new expressions. You may feel that a lot of new material and unpredictable rules are being placed in front of you. Not all of it will make sense at first! If we dissect the rules too much, you will find yourself caught up by the technical side of the language. Rather allow yourself the benefit of enjoying the experience even when you have questions left unanswered..for the moment! You will see that by the time you reach the end of Lesson Plan 2, that the Activities will clarify and reinforce your progress.

Define it .
You may not have learned this at school, but in English the word the is called a definite article. That is because the word the points to a very specific thing. For example, you may tell someone, I want the mug assuming that they will bring you the mug you have in mind.

Or not!
However, if you tell them, I want a mug, you will get whatever mug they choose to hand you! That is because the words a or an or some are indefinite articles and point to a general group of items, things, people or places.

Making Things Specific (Definite) in French

As mentioned in Lesson Plan 1, about the concept of gender, the short defining word before the noun is really part of the noun. Remember le chien and la chienne, le musician and la musicienne? One of the most common words in any language is the. In French, the is not just one word. Rather there are a total of 4 ways to write and pronounce them, depending on the gender and quantity of the noun to which each refers.

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The French word for the, if followed by a masculine noun, is Le. If followed by a feminine noun, is La and when followed by any noun in the plural, is Les. For example, if there is one (male) cat, we say Le chat. If there are two or more cats, we say Les chats. If there is one woman, we say La femme. If there are two or more women, we say Les femmes.

Le chat

Les chats

Any noun beginning with a vowel is always preceded by an apostrophe, L. The apostrophe is inserted in between the article or pronoun and the noun or the verb. This is because two vowel sounds in French cannot follow from one word to another. There are more examples of this rule in this Lesson Plan. In summary: The + masculine noun The + feminine noun The + any plural noun = le = la = les

The + any noun beginning with a vowel = l

Par Exemple
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Le garon The boy Les garons The boys La fille The girl Les filles The girls Linvit The guest (a man) Les filles

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2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16

Les invits The guests Lenfant The child Les enfants The children Le livre The book Les livres The books La pomme The apple Les pommes The apples La librairie The bookstore Les librairies The bookstores Le jeu The game Les jeux The games Les livres Lenfant

Le jeu

Les pommes

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Making Things General (Indefinite) in French

Just as the previous section refers to making things specific using the in French, with Le, La, Les and L, in this section, we talk about the ways to make things general, or indefinite. In French, there are 3 ways of using the indefinite articles a, an, some or several. A or An + masculine noun A or An + feminine noun Some or Several + any plural noun = un = une = des

Note that some and several are interchangeable and explained in more detail further on in this Lesson Plan.

Par Exemple
2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 Une fleur A flower Des fleurs Some flowers Une copine A friend (a woman) Des copines Several friends (women) Un crayon A pencil Des crayons Several pencils Des crayons Un crayon

When Indefinite and Definite Work Together in French

Some and several in French are interchangeable with any and of the. These articles also help to define words and quantities, and are subject to gender rules. This means that almost everything new you learn in French will be subject to these questions: Is it a female group of words? Is it a male group of words? Is it plural? Does it begin with a vowel?

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A Versatile Word: De
The next group of defining words of the, of, some, several, or any are used with singular, plural, masculine and feminine nouns. The root word de is used and as you might guess, this means it needs to be very versatile! De generally changes form as follows to mean of and of the. of or of the + masculine noun of or of the + feminine noun of or of the + any noun starting with a vowel of or of the + any plural noun = de or du = de la = d or de l = des

Sounds in Pronunciation
First a note about pronunciation as it relates to the use of de. As we mentioned to you in your Learning Companion, when speaking French, words must be linked to one another by sound. When there are too many vowel sounds that clash with the phonetic principles, they are simply eliminated. It can be explained by saying that the rules exist to be broken when it doesnt sound just right to the linguists! In French, the expression thats used to explain this principle is faire la liaison entre les mots, which means, to make connections between words. As you get used to the various forms of de, as it is used in of, and of the, its important to bring your attention to this rule about la liaison. Vowels cant follow straight on from one word to another. We have given you two examples so far: Linvit and lenfant which start with a L instead of a Le. This is because Le would be followed by the sound i in invit, and by the sound e in enfant, and would be grammatically and phonetically incorrect.

A very similar principle applies when using of and of the with a noun like Le garcon. As you will see from the following examples the boys game is written Le jeu du garcon, not Le jeu de-le garcon, as you might expect. In other words, when the sound of two vowels together clash, such as de le, a kind of short cut rule applies, making it du for the purpose of sounding more fluent. For feminine words, de la doesnt change, unless the word begins with a vowel, when de la becomes de l. You will also note from the following examples that a literal translation has been included in brackets, because there is no equivalent in French for the use of the apostrophe as it is used in English. The childrens game, for example, is literally translated as the game of the children. This is where de, in its various forms as explained above, comes into action.

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Par Exemple
2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 Le jeu des enfants The childrens game (The game of the children) Le jeu de lenfant The childs game (The game of the child) Le jeu de la fille The girls game (The game of the girl) Le jeu du garon The boys game (The game of the boy) Le jeu de linvit The guests game (The game of the guest) Le got du fromage (masculine) The taste of the cheese La couleur du vin (masculine) The color of the wine La fracheur du pain (masculine) The freshness of the bread La qualit de la confiture (feminine) The quality of the jam La beaut de lactrice (feminine + vowel) The beauty of the actress La couleur du vin

La beaut de lactrice

La fracheur du pain

As well as being used to say of or of the in the plural, as we saw above, du, de la , d, de l and des are also used to mean and some and several. In effect, this is when the article a or an becomes a plural, to mean more than just one.

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Par Exemple
2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 Du fromage (masculine) Some cheese Du vin (masculine) Some wine Du pain (masculine) Some bread De la confiture (feminine) Some jam De largent (masculine + vowel) Some money De lomelette (feminine + vowel) Some omelet Du pain

Du fromage

De largent

Du vin

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Action Replay!
Le, La, L and Les The + masculine noun The + feminine noun The + any noun beginning with a vowel The + any plural noun A or An + masculine noun A or An + feminine noun Some or Several + any plural noun Of or Of the + masculine noun Of or Of the + feminine noun Of or Of the + any plural noun = le = la = l = les = un = une = des = de or du = de la = des

Un, Une and Des

De, Du, De La, D, De L and Des

Of or Of the + any noun starting with a vowel = d or de l

More Audio!
These audio tracks are for all the words in this Lesson Plan that you havent heard yet! Most of them will be used in the following exercises.

Extra Words
2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 La pioche Les larmes Ah oui! Le poulet Les gouttes La pluie Oh l l! Les secrets Un anniversaire La brosse Autour Un jour Une fte The spade The tears Ah, yes! The chicken The drops The rain Oh my! The secrets A birthday The hairbrush Around A day A party/gathering/feast

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2.52 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.57 2.58 2.59 2.60 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.64 2.65 2.66 2.67 2.68 2.69 2.70 2.71 2.72 2.73 2.74 2.75

Une famille Pour Une omelette Larbre Les arbres Une histoire Lamour Une bouteille Une gousse dail Un morceau Une tranche Un bout Beaucoup Un peu Un pot La maison Le prix La chambre Lhotel Un hotel Lhpital Des morceaux Le bruit Une olive

A family For An omelet The tree The trees A story Love A bottle A clove of garlic A piece A slice A piece A lot of, much A little, a bit A pot The house The price The room The hotel A hotel The hospital Pieces (several) The noise An olive

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Les Activits
Le, La, L or Les?
In the first space provided, write whether the noun should have la, le, l or les in front of it! And in the second space write the English translation! Le, La, L or Les Example La chaise Q.1 Q.2 Q.3 Q.4 Q.5 Q.6 Q.7 Q.8 Q.9 Q.10 Q.11 Q.12 Q.13 Q.14 Q.15 Q.16 Q.17 Q.18 _____ garon _____ livre _____ fille _____ arbre _____ librairie _____ enfant _____ pommes _____ arbres _____ filles _____ invits _____ garons _____ livres _____ enfants _____ invit _____ librairies _____ jeux _____ pomme _____ jeu Translation The chair _ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

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Un, Une or Des?

In the space provided, write whether the noun should have un, une or des in front of it. Example une chaise Q.19 Q.20 Q.21 Q.22 Q.23 Q.24 Q.25 Q.26 Q.27 Q.28 Q.29 Q.30 Q.31 Q.32 Q.33 Q.34 Q.35 Q.36 Q.37 Q.38 Q.39 Q.40 _____ garon _____ livre _____ fille _____ arbre _____ librairie _____ enfant _____ pommes _____ arbres _____ filles _____ invits _____ garons _____ livres _____ enfants _____ invit _____ librairies _____ jeux _____ pomme _____ jeu _____ actrice _____ olive _____ actrices _____ olives

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A Versatile Word, De
In the first space provided in the sentences below choose from Un, Une or Des for a an or several. In the second space provided in the sentences below choose from the following de, d, des, du, de l or de la for of the, of, several/some. Q.41 Q.42 Q.43 Q.44 Q.45 Q.46 Q.47 Q.48 Q.49 Q.50 Q.51 Q.52 Q.53 Q.54 Q.55 Q.56 Q.57 Q.58 Q.59 Q.60 _____ histoire ___amour _____ bouteille ___ vin _____ gousse ___ ail _____ morceau ___ fromage _____ tranche ___ pain _____ bout ___ pain Beaucoup ___ monnaie ____ peu ___ argent Le got ___ ___ confiture ____ pots ___ confiture Lhistoire ___ ___ maison La fracheur ___ pain Le got ___ vin Le prix ___ ___ chambre ____ chambre ___ hpital ____ chambre ___ htel ____chambres ___ htel ____ morceaux ___ fromage Le bruit ____ arbres ____ gousses ___ ail a story of love a bottle of wine a clove of garlic a piece of cheese a slice of bread a piece of bread a lot of money a bit of money the taste of the jam several/some jars of jam the story of the house the freshness of the bread the taste of the wine the price of the room a hospital room (a room of the hospital) a hotel room (a room of the hotel) several/some rooms of the hotel several/some pieces of cheese the sound of the trees several/some cloves of garlic

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Un Jeu Dimages!
Write the English translation in the space provided on the right. Then, on the next line, write the French translation of the English phrase on the left. En franais! (In French!) Q.61 En Anglais! (In English!)

La pioche du travailleur ________________ Q.62

____________________ A spade

Le crayon du garon _______________ Q.63

____________________ A pencil

Les larmes de la fille _______________

____________________ (Several) Tears

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Q.64

Lanniversaire du garon _____________ Q.65

____________________ A boy

La brosse de Marie _____________ Q.66

____________________ A hairbrush

Ah oui! Du poulet! _______________

____________________ The chefs chicken

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Q.67

Oh l l, des secrets! ________________ Q.68

____________________ A secret

Des fleurs pour Marie __________________ Q.69

____________________ Maries flowers

Des chaises autour de la table __________________

____________________ A chair

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Q.70

Un jour de fte ________________ Q.71

_________________________ Maries party

Une fte de famille ________________ Q.72

_________________________ (Several) Parties

Des gouttes de pluie _________________

_________________________ A drop of rain

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Les Rponses
Le, La, Lor Les?
A.1 A.2 A.3 A.4 A.5 A.6 A.7 A.8 A.9 A.10 A.11 A.12 A.13 A.14 A.15 A.16 A.17 A.18 Le garon Le livre La fille Larbre La librairie Lenfant Les pommes Les arbres Les filles Les invits Les garons Les livres Les enfants Linvit Les librairies Les jeux La pomme Le jeu The boy The book The girl The tree The bookshop The child The apples The trees The girls The guests The boys The books The children The guest The bookshops The toys/games The apple The toy/game

Un, Une, D or Des?

A.19 A.20 A.21 A.22 A.23 A.24 A.25 A.26 A.27 A.28 A.29 A.30 A.31 A.32 A.33 A.34 A.35 A.36 A.37 A.38 Un garon Un livre Une fille Un arbre Une librairie Un enfant Des pommes Des arbres Des filles Des invits Des garons Des livres Des enfants Un invit Des librairies Des jeux Une pomme Un jeu Une actrice Des actrices - 18 -

A.39 A.40

Une olive Des olives

A Versatile Word, De
A.41 A.42 A.43 A.44 A.45 A.46 A.47 A.48 A.49 A.50 A.51 A.52 A.53 A.54 A.55 A.56 A.57 A.58 A.59 A.60 Une histoire damour Une bouteille de vin Une gousse d ail Un morceau de fromage Une tranche de pain Un bout de pain Beaucoup de monnaie Un peu dargent Le got de la confiture Des pots de confiture Lhistoire de la maison La fracheur du pain Le got du vin Le prix de la chambre Une chambre dhpital Une chambre dhtel Des chambres dhtel Des morceaux de fromage Le bruit des arbres Des gousses dail

Un Jeu Dimages!
A.61 A.62 A.63 A.64 A.65 A.66 A.67 A.68 A.69 A.70 A.71 A.72 The workers spade The boys pencil The girls tears The boys birthday Maries hairbrush Alright! Chicken! Oh My! Secrets! Some flowers for Marie Several chairs around the table A day of celebration A family celebration Rain drops Une pioche Un crayon Des larmes Un garon Une brosse Le poulet du chef Un secret Les fleurs de Marie Une chaise La fte de Marie Des ftes Une goutte de pluie

La Fin - 19 -