Mission: describe your family and your town
Articles and gender. Every French noun is masculine or feminine; the little word in front tells you which.
FrenchA1 · About meAbout 5 min: 2 reading, 3 practiceUpdated
- Choose un or une, le or la for a noun
- Use l' before a vowel sound and les or des in the plural
- Learn each new noun with its article
About me: lesson 3 of 6
- A1 · About me
- Mission: introduce yourself to your new neighbour 5 min
- Mission: say who you are and what you have 5 min
- Mission: describe your family and your town 5 min
- Mission: tell a new colleague where you live and work 5 min
- Mission: say no politely to a street survey 5 min
- Mission: show a colleague photos of your family 6 min
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Level Level A1 (around the DELF A1 exam). Real French: telling a neighbour about your family and your town.
What it is
Your mission: your neighbour Julien asks, « Vous avez de la famille ici ? Et vous habitez où ? ». Say what family you have (un frère, une sœur, des amis) and two things about your town, each with the right article.
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, even for things: le livre (the book) is masculine, la table (the table) is feminine. The article in front shows which.
| Masc. | Fem. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a, some | un | une | des |
| the | le | la | les |
So: un frère, une sœur, des enfants; le frère, la sœur, les enfants.
Before a vowel sound, le and la both become l': l'ami (m), l'amie (f), l'hôtel (m). Most words starting with h count as a vowel sound, because the h is silent.
In the plural, les and des are the same for both genders. Add -s to the noun, usually silent: les livres sounds like le livre except for the article.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
Which article goes with sœur (sister)?
- A sister is feminine
- des is plural
Show answer
une. sœur is feminine: une sœur, la sœur.
Why it matters
The article changes other words too: adjectives (grand, grande) and later pronouns follow the noun's gender. In any first conversation you are likely to talk about your family and your town, so un frère, une sœur, la ville come up at once.
Worked example
How you might answer Julien:
- J'ai un frère et une sœur. I have a brother and a sister.
- Le frère s'appelle Paul. The brother is called Paul.
- J'habite dans une petite ville. La ville est jolie. I live in a small town. The town is pretty.
- J'ai des amis à Lyon. I have (some) friends in Lyon.
- L'école est près de la gare. The school is near the station.
Real French: un and une sound different (un is a nasal vowel; in une you hear the n), so listen for it: it tells you the gender of a word you don't know.
Use un / une / des for something new or unspecified, and le / la / les for something known or in general (J'aime le café, I like coffee).
Common mistake
Guessing gender from meaning. La table and le bureau (the desk) are both furniture, but one is feminine and one masculine. There are some patterns (words ending in -tion are feminine, -ment masculine), but the safe habit is to learn each noun with its article: not "livre" but "un livre".
A second slip: writing le ami or la école. Before a vowel sound, use l'.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
Which is correct?
- la becomes l' before a vowel sound
- école is feminine, and le also becomes l'
Show answer
l'école. Before a vowel sound: l'.
Key terms
- masculine / feminine
- the two genders of French nouns
- un, une
- a (masculine, feminine)
- le, la
- the (masculine, feminine)
- l'
- le or la before a vowel sound
- des
- some (plural)
- les
- the (plural)
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 6 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| masculine / feminine | the two genders of French nouns |
| un, une | a (masculine, feminine) |
| le, la | the (masculine, feminine) |
| l' | le or la before a vowel sound |
| des | some (plural) |
| les | the (plural) |
Practice
Sort it
Masculine or feminine?
un frère
unShow answer
Masculine. un
une sœur
uneShow answer
Feminine. une
la ville
laShow answer
Feminine. la
le livre
leShow answer
Masculine. le
la gare
laShow answer
Feminine. la
le bureau
leShow answer
Masculine. le
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
« J'ai … chat et … chien. » (cat and dog are masculine)
- chat and chien are masculine
- For something new you mention, use un
Show answer
un, un. Something new, masculine: un.
What is the plural of l'enfant (the child)?
- "the" in the plural is les, and the noun takes -s
- l' is singular only
Show answer
les enfants. les + noun + s.
Build the sentence
Build "I have a sister and some friends."
Show answer
J'ai une sœur et des amis.. Something new: une sœur, des amis.
Practise speaking
Studyfern has no voice tools of its own. To practise out loud, copy this prompt into a voice-capable AI assistant and talk with it.
Mission role-play. You are Julien, my friendly French neighbour, chatting over the garden fence, at level A1. Speak slowly and clearly. Use only these words: un, une, le, la, l', les, des, frère, sœur, enfant, ami, amie, livre, table, bureau, ville, gare, école, hôtel, chat, chien, café, j'ai, c'est, et. Say one noun in English at a time (for example "a sister", "the station", "some friends"), and I will say it in French with the right article. Do 10 nouns. After each answer, tell me what kind of mistake I made, if any, and let me try again, and remind me of the noun's gender. When I have done all 10 nouns, say « Mission accomplie ! » and give me one tip. Keep every reply under 2 sentences. Explain corrections in English.
Listen too. Listen to native speakers before and after: see the free listening and shadowing links.
Good to know. AI feedback on pronunciation is hit and miss, so check yourself against native recordings. Many assistants turn your speech into text first, so a vowel or liaison you got wrong may be silently “heard” as the right word. Don't share personal details: use a made-up name and town.
New to this? Read Practising speaking with an AI.
In short
- Every noun is masculine or feminine.
- a: un (m), une (f); the: le (m), la (f); before a vowel sound: l'.
- Plural: des (some), les (the), noun + -s (usually silent).
- un/une/des for something new; le/la/les for something known or in general.
- Learn every noun with its article.
Mastery check
Answer without looking back. Score 80% or more and the lesson is marked done. Your result is kept only in this browser.
Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
How do you say "the station" (gare is feminine)?
Show answer
la gare.
Why is it l'hôtel, not le hôtel?
Show answer
The h is silent, so hôtel starts with a vowel sound.
What is "some books"?
Show answer
des livres.
Further reading
- TV5MONDE, Apprendre le français, free A1 exercises on articles.
- RFI, Journal en français facile: listen for le, la, l', les before nouns in the short news items.
Finished? Mark it done to fill in your leaf on the French map.