Nouns have a gender; the article signals it
Every French noun is masculine or feminine, so learn each noun WITH its article (le chien, not chien). Three article families mark gender and number: definite le/la/les (the, or a general category: le café); indefinite un/une/des (one or more unspecified items); partitive du/de la/des (an uncountable quantity: du pain). Before a vowel or mute h, le and la become l' (l'école, l'homme), which is examiner-marked.
Endings hint at gender; learn the exceptions
Noun endings are a strong but imperfect guide to gender. Usually masculine: -age (le fromage), -ment (le logement). Usually feminine: -tion/-sion (la nation), -té (la liberté). But a high-frequency block breaks the -e = feminine pattern and must be learned: le problème, le programme, le musée are masculine, while la page, la plage, l'image are feminine — a commonly reported Writing gender fault.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Wrong-gender article on an -e noun
Candidates pair the wrong-gender article with a noun whose ending suggests the other gender: le problème, NOT la problème — masculine despite the -e; la page, NOT le page — feminine despite looking short. A wrong article turns a correct-looking sentence inaccurate, which is why examiners name the appropriate article as scoring-critical alongside spelling and gender.
w22 42 Q3(b) (Writing accuracy: wrong-gender article)
Not collapsing du/des to de after a negative
After a negative (ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...plus), the articles du, de la, des, un, une all collapse to a bare de (d' before a vowel): Je mange du pain → Je ne mange pas de pain (NOT pas du pain). The exception is after être: Ce n'est pas une bonne idée keeps une. Because it depends on the negative structure, it is examiner-marked.
general FL trap
Writing à le / de le instead of au / du
Two common prepositions contract with the definite article, and skipping the contraction is a reported error: à + le → au (au zoo, NOT à le zoo); à + les → aux; de + le → du; de + les → des. Also le/la → l' before a vowel or mute h (l'école) hides the gender, which you still need for agreement. These are contextual, so examiner-marked.
s22 41 (Writing accuracy: à le zoo for au zoo)
l'environnement: masculine, full spelling
l'environnement is masculine (l'environnement est important), but the l' contraction hides the gender, so the underlying le must still be known. Candidates also strip the word — writing l'environment — which is both a spelling fault and, because it obscures the article, a gender-marking error. Learn it as le/l'environnement with its full spelling.
s23 41 (Writing accuracy: l'environment mis-spelt/mis-gendered)
Treating vacances as singular
Vacances (holidays) is grammatically plural in French, even though English "holiday" can be singular. It takes plural article and agreement: les grandes vacances, mes vacances sont formidables (NOT ma vacance est). Any verb or possessive with it must be plural. Using it as a singular is a reported closing-accuracy fault in Writing.
w22 43 (closing Writing accuracy note: vacances used as singular)
du vs dû, des vs dès: the accent matters
An accent can turn the article into a different word: du (partitive, "some") vs dû (the participle of devoir); des (plural article) vs dès ("from/as of", a preposition). Write du pain, never dû; des livres, not dès livres. Misspellings are tolerated only when they do NOT form another real French word — these accent slips do, so they cost marks.
general FL trap
Myth: every -e noun is feminine
Many assume any -e noun must be feminine, because so many common feminine nouns do (la table, la porte). This makes candidates "correct" a masculine -e noun into the wrong gender. In fact many everyday masculine nouns also end in -e: le problème, le programme, le musée. The ending is a guide, not a rule — the only sure way is to learn the noun with its article.
Audit each noun: gender, article, number
On every noun, run a quick check: fix the gender; pick the article family (def/indef/partitive); if the clause is negative, collapse du/des/un/une to de; apply l'/au/du contractions; then match singular vs plural. This is what the Writing Accuracy mark rewards.
Learn every noun with its article
Store each new word as le/la + noun, never the bare noun. Because the article changes with gender, the pair le chien / la maison fixes the gender, so you recall it. Where l' hides the gender (l'école), note it separately — you still need it for agreement.
Choose the article by meaning, not English
Do not map English word-for-word. "Some bread" is partitive du pain, but "the bread" is definite le pain. English "some" can be plural des (des amis) OR partitive du/de la. Decide from the meaning — specific, one item, or uncountable — then pick the article family.
Every French noun has a fixed gender (masculine or feminine), and the article in front of it must agree with that gender (and with number — singular or plural). Getting the article right is one of the scoring-critical accuracy points examiners name in almost every Writing report.
| Article | Masc. sg | Fem. sg | Plural | Meaning / use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definite | le | la | les | "the", or a general category (j'adore le chocolat) |
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