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1 definite article
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noun Linguistics article m défini -
4 definite
definite [ˈdefɪnɪt]1. adjectivea. ( = fixed) [plan] précis ; [intention, order, sale] ferme• is that definite? c'est sûr ?• have you got a definite date for the wedding? avez-vous décidé de la date du mariage ?b. ( = distinct) [feeling, increase] net ; [advantage] certainc. ( = positive) [person, tone] catégorique ; [views] arrêté2. compounds* * *['defɪnɪt]1) ( not vague) [plan, criteria, amount] précis; [impression] net/nettedefinite evidence — preuves fpl formelles
2) ( firm) [contract, agreement, decision, intention] ferme; [refusal] catégorique3) ( obvious) [change, improvement, increase] net/nette; [advantage] certain, évident; [smell] très net/nette4)to be definite — [person] ( sure) être certain ( about de); ( unyielding) être formel/-elle ( about sur)
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5 definite
definite ['defɪnɪt](a) (precise, clear) précis; (advantage, improvement, opinion) net; (answer) définitif; (orders, proof) formel; (price) fixe;∎ their plans to marry are still not definite leurs projets de mariage sont encore vagues;∎ it's a definite advantage being a woman c'est décidément un avantage d'être une femme;∎ the boss was very definite about the need for punctuality le patron a été très ferme en ce qui concerne la ponctualité;∎ he has very definite ideas on the subject il a des idées bien arrêtées sur la question∎ it's not definite yet ce n'est pas encore définitif ou sûr;∎ is it definite that the Pope is coming to England? est-il certain ou sûr que le pape vienne en Angleterre?;∎ I've heard rumours of a merger, but nothing definite j'ai entendu dire qu'il allait y avoir une fusion, mais rien de sûr pour l'instant;∎ and that's definite! et c'est sûr!►► Grammar definite article article m défini;Mathematics definite integral intégrale f définie -
6 definite
['definit](clear; fixed or certain: I'll give you a definite answer later.) déterminé- definite article -
7 article
1) (a thing or an object: This shop sells articles of all kinds; articles of clothing.) article2) (a piece of writing in a newspaper or magazine: He has written an article on the new sports centre for a local magazine.) article3) (the (the definite article) or a/an (the indefinite article).) article -
8 article
A n3 Admin, Jur ( clause) article m ; in ou under Article 12 à l'article 12 ; article of faith Relig, fig article de foi ; the Thirty-nine Articles Relig les trente-neuf articles de foi (de l'Église Anglicane) ;5 ( in a newsgroup) article m. -
9 article
article [ˈα:tɪkl]b. (in newspaper) article m* * *['ɑːtɪkl] 1.1) ( object) objet marticle of clothing — article m vestimentaire
2) ( written) article m (about, on sur)in ou under Article 12 — à l'article 12
4) Linguistics article m2.definite/indefinite/partitive article — article défini/indéfini/partitif
articles plural noun Law -
10 Islands
In French, some names of islands always have the definite article and some never do.Island names with definite articleThese behave like the names of countries ⇒ Countries and continents, with different constructions depending on gender and number:Corsica= la Corsein Corsica= en Corseto Corsica= en Corsefrom Corsica= de CorseNote that where the English has the definite article, French normally has as well:the Balearics= les Baléares fplin the Balearics= aux Baléaresto the Balearics= aux Baléaresfrom the Balearics= des BaléaresIslands without definite articleAs in English, most island names have no definite article ; these work like names of towns ⇒ Towns and cities:Cyprus= Chyprein Cyprus= à Chypreto Cyprus= à Chyprefrom Cyprus= de ChypreCyprus sherry= le sherry de ChypreEnglish uses on with the names of small islands ; there is no such distinction in French:on St. Helena= à Sainte-Hélèneon Naxos= à NaxosAs with names of cities and towns, it is safest to avoid explicit genders ; use l’île d… instead:Cuba is beautiful= l’île de Cuba est belleNames with or without île in themEnglish and French tend to work the same way in this respect:Guernsey= Guerneseythe island of Guernsey= l’île de Guerneseythe Balearics= les Baléaresthe Balearic Islands= les îles Baléaresthe Orkney Isles= les îles OrcadesExceptionsThere are some exceptions to these rules, e.g. Fiji, Samoa, Jamaica. If in doubt, look up island name in the dictionary. -
11 French departments
The names of French departments usually have the definite article, except when used after the preposition en.In, to and from somewhereto live in the Loiret= vivre dans le Loiretto go to the Loiret= aller dans le Loiretto live in the Landes= vivre dans les Landesto go to the Landes= aller dans les Landesto live in the Loir-et-Cher= vivre dans le Loir-et-Cherto go to the Loir-et-Cher= aller dans le Loir-et-Cherto live in Savoy= vivre en Savoieto go to Savoy= aller en Savoieto live in Seine-et-Marne= vivre en Seine-et-Marneto go to Seine-et-Marne= aller en Seine-et-Marneto come from the Loiret= venir du Loiretto come from the Landes= venir des Landesto come from the Loir-et-Cher= venir du Loir-et-CherFor from, use de without the definite article for feminine names of departments:to come from Savoy= venir de Savoieto come from Seine-et-Marne= venir de Seine-et-MarneUses with nounsUse de with the definite article in most cases:a Cantal accent= un accent du Cantalthe Var area= la région du Varthe Creuse countryside= les paysages de la CreuseLoiret people= les gens du LoiretYonne representatives= les représentants de l’YonneLandes restaurants= les restaurants des Landesthe Calvados team= l’équipe du CalvadosArdennes towns= les villes des ArdennesSeine-et-Marne hotels= les hôtels de Seine-et-MarneSome cases are undecided:Savoy roads= les routes de Savoie or de la Savoie -
12 French provinces and regions
Both traditional pre-Revolution regions and modern administrative regions usually take the definite article as in l’Alsace, la Champagne etc.:I like Alsace= j’aime l’AlsaceChampagne is beautiful= la Champagne est belleFor names which have a compound form, such as Midi-Pyrénées or Rhône-Alpes, it is safer to include the words la région:do you know Midi-Pyrénées?= connaissez-vous la région Midi-Pyrénées?In, to and from somewhereThere are certain general principles regarding names of French provinces and regions. However, usage is sometimes uncertain ; doubtful items should be checked in the dictionary.For in and to, with feminine names and with masculine ones beginning with a vowel, use en without the definite article:to live in Burgundy= vivre en Bourgogneto go to Burgundy= aller en Bourgogneto live in Anjou= vivre en Anjouto go to Anjou= aller en AnjouFor in and to with masculine names beginning with a consonant, use dans le:to live in the Berry= vivre dans le Berryto go to the Berry= aller dans le BerryFor from with feminine names and with masculine ones beginning with a vowel, use de without the definite article:to come from Burgundy= venir de Bourgogneto come from Anjou= venir d’AnjouFor from with masculine names beginning with a consonant, use du:to come from the Berry= venir du BerryRegional adjectivesRelated adjectives and nouns exist for most of the names of provinces and regions. Here is a list of the commonest:an Alsace accent= un accent alsacienAlsace costume= le costume alsacienthe Alsace countryside= les paysages alsaciensAlsace traditions= les traditions alsaciennesAlsace villages= les villages alsaciensThese words can also be used as nouns, meaning a person from X ; in this case they are written with a capital letter:a person from Alsace= un Alsacienan Alsace woman= une Alsaciennethe people of Alsace= les Alsaciens mplBig English-French dictionary > French provinces and regions
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13 Illnesses, aches and pains
Where does it hurt?where does it hurt?= où est-ce que ça vous fait mal? or (more formally) où avez-vous mal?his leg hurts= sa jambe lui fait malhe has a pain in his leg= il a mal à la jambeNote that with avoir mal à French uses the definite article (la) with the part of the body, where English has a possessive (his), hence:his head was aching= il avait mal à la têteEnglish has other ways of expressing this idea, but avoir mal à fits them too:he had toothache= il avait mal aux dentshis ears hurt= il avait mal aux oreillesAccidentsshe broke her leg= elle s’est cassé la jambeElle s’est cassé la jambe means literally she broke to herself the leg ; because the se is an indirect object, the past participle cassé does not agree. This is true of all such constructions:she sprained her ankle= elle s’est foulé la chevillethey burned their hands= ils se sont brûlé les mainsChronic conditionsNote that the French often use fragile (weak) to express a chronic condition:he has a weak heart= il a le cœur fragilehe has kidney trouble= il a les reins fragileshe has a bad back= il a le dos fragileBeing illMostly French uses the definite article with the name of an illness:to have flu= avoir la grippeto have measles= avoir la rougeoleto have malaria= avoir la malariaThis applies to most infectious diseases, including childhood illnesses. However, note the exceptions ending in -ite (e.g. une hépatite, une méningite) below.When the illness affects a specific part of the body, French uses the indefinite article:to have cancer= avoir un cancerto have cancer of the liver= avoir un cancer du foieto have pneumonia= avoir une pneumonieto have cirrhosis= avoir une cirrhoseto have a stomach ulcer= avoir un ulcère à l’estomacMost words in -ite ( English -itis) work like this:to have bronchitis= avoir une bronchiteto have hepatitis= avoir une hépatiteWhen the illness is a generalized condition, French tends to use du, de l’, de la or des:to have rheumatism= avoir des rhumatismesto have emphysema= avoir de l’emphysèmeto have asthma= avoir de l’asthmeto have arthritis= avoir de l’arthriteOne exception here is:to have hay fever= avoir le rhume des foinsWhen there is an adjective for such conditions, this is often preferred in French:to have asthma= être asthmatiqueto have epilepsy= être épileptiqueSuch adjectives can be used as nouns to denote the person with the illness, e.g. un/une asthmatique and un/une épileptique etc.French has other specific words for people with certain illnesses:someone with cancer= un cancéreux/une cancéreuseIf in doubt check in the dictionary.English with is translated by qui a or qui ont, and this is always safe:someone with malaria= quelqu’un qui a la malariapeople with Aids= les gens qui ont le SidaFalling illThe above guidelines about the use of the definite and indefinite articles in French hold good for talking about the onset of illnesses.French has no general equivalent of to get. However, where English can use catch, French can use attraper:to catch mumps= attraper les oreillonsto catch malaria= attraper la malariato catch bronchitis= attraper une bronchiteto catch a cold= attraper un rhumeSimilarly where English uses contract, French uses contracter:to contract Aids= contracter le Sidato contract pneumonia= contracter une pneumonieto contract hepatitis= contracter une hépatiteFor attacks of chronic illnesses, French uses faire une crise de:to have a bout of malaria= faire une crise de malariato have an asthma attack= faire une crise d’asthmeto have an epileptic fit= faire une crise d’épilepsieTreatmentto be treated for polio= se faire soigner contre la polioto take something for hay fever= prendre quelque chose contre le rhume des foinshe’s taking something for his cough= il prend quelque chose contre la touxto prescribe something for a cough= prescrire un médicament contre la touxmalaria tablets= des cachets contre la malariato have a cholera vaccination= se faire vacciner contre le cholérato be vaccinated against smallpox= se faire vacciner contre la varioleto be immunized against smallpox= se faire immuniser contre la varioleto have a tetanus injection= se faire vacciner contre le tétanosto give sb a tetanus injection= vacciner qn contre le tétanosto be operated on for cancer= être opéré d’un cancerto operate on sb for appendicitis= opérer qn de l’appendicite -
14 Towns and cities
Occasionally the gender of a town is clear because the name includes the definite article, e.g. Le Havre or La Rochelle. In most other cases, there is some hesitation, and it is always safer to avoid the problem by using la ville de:Toulouse is beautiful= la ville de Toulouse est belleIn, to and from somewhereFor in and to with the name of a town, use à in French ; if the French name includes the definite article, à will become au, à la, à l’ or aux:to live in Toulouse= vivre à Toulouseto go to Toulouse= aller à Toulouseto live in Le Havre= vivre au Havreto go to Le Havre= aller au Havreto live in La Rochelle= vivre à La Rochelleto go to La Rochelle= aller à La Rochelleto live in Les Arcs= vivre aux Arcsto go to Les Arcs= aller aux ArcsSimilarly, from is de, becoming du, de la, de l’ or des when it combines with the definite article in town names:to come from Toulouse= venir de Toulouseto come from Le Havre= venir du Havreto come from La Rochelle= venir de La Rochelleto come from Les Arcs= venir des ArcsBelonging to a town or cityEnglish sometimes has specific words for people of a certain city or town, such as Londoners, New Yorkers or Parisians, but mostly we talk of the people of Leeds or the inhabitants of San Francisco. On the other hand, most towns in French-speaking countries have a corresponding adjective and noun, and a list of the best-known of these is given at the end of this note.The noun forms, spelt with a capital letter, mean a person from X:the inhabitants of Bordeaux= les Bordelais mplthe people of Strasbourg= les Strasbourgeois mplThe adjective forms, spelt with a small letter, are often used where in English the town name is used as an adjective:Paris shops= les magasins parisiensHowever, some of these French words are fairly rare, and it is always safe to say les habitants de X, or, for the adjective, simply de X. Here are examples of this, using some of the nouns that commonly combine with the names of towns:a Bordeaux accent= un accent de BordeauxToulouse airport= l’aéroport de Toulousethe La Rochelle area= la région de La RochelleLimoges buses= les autobus de Limogesthe Le Havre City Council= le conseil municipal du HavreLille representatives= les représentants de LilleLes Arcs restaurants= les restaurants des Arcsthe Geneva road= la route de GenèveBrussels streets= les rues de Bruxellesthe Angers team= l’équipe d’Angersthe Avignon train= le train d’Avignonbut noteOrleans traffic= la circulation à OrléansNames of cities and towns in French-speaking countries and their adjectivesRemember that when these adjectives are used as nouns, meaning a person from X or the people of X, they are spelt with capital letters.Aix-en-Provence = aixois(e)Alger = algérois(e)Angers = angevin(e)Arles = arlésien(ne)Auxerre = auxerrois(e)Avignon = avignonnais(e)Bastia = bastiais(e)Bayonne = bayonnais(e)Belfort = belfortain(e)Berne = bernois(e)Besançon = bisontin(e)Béziers = biterrois(e)Biarritz = biarrot(e)Bordeaux = bordelais(e)Boulogne-sur-Mer = boulonnais(e)Bourges = berruyer(-ère)Brest = brestois(e)Bruges = brugeois(e)Bruxelles = bruxellois(e)Calais = calaisien(ne)Cannes = cannais(e)Carcassonne = carcassonnais(e)Chambéry = chambérien(ne)Chamonix = chamoniard(e)Clermont-Ferrand = clermontois(e)Die = diois(e)Dieppe = dieppois(e)Dijon = dijonnais(e)Dunkerque = dunkerquois(e)Fontainebleau = bellifontain(e)Gap = gapençais(e)Genève = genevois(e)Grenoble = grenoblois(e)Havre, Le = havrais(e)Lens = lensois(e)Liège = liégeois(e)Lille = lillois(e)Lourdes = lourdais(e)Luxembourg = luxembourgeois(e)Lyon = lyonnais(e)Mâcon = mâconnais(e)Marseille = marseillais(e) or phocéen(ne)Metz = messin(e)Modane = modanais(e)Montpellier = montpelliérain(e)Montréal = montréalais(e)Moulins = moulinois(e)Mulhouse = mulhousien(ne)Nancy = nancéien(ne)Nantes = nantais(e)Narbonne = narbonnais(e)Nevers = nivernais(e)Nice = niçois(e)Nîmes = nîmois(e)Orléans = orléanais(e)Paris = parisien(ne)Pau = palois(e)Périgueux = périgourdin(e)Perpignan = perpignanais(e)Poitiers = poitevin(e)Pont-à-Mousson = mussipontain(e)Québec = québécois(e)Reims = rémois(e)Rennes = rennais(e)Roanne = roannais(e)Rouen = rouennais(e)Saint-Étienne = stéphanois(e)Saint-Malo = malouin(e)Saint-Tropez = tropézien(ne)Sancerre = sancerrois(e)Sète = sétois(e)Sochaux = sochalien(ne)Strasbourg = strasbourgeois(e)Tarascon = tarasconnais(e)Tarbes = tarbais(e)Toulon = toulonnais(e)Toulouse = toulousain(e)Tours = tourangeau(-elle)Tunis = tunisois(e)Valence = valentinois(e)Valenciennes = valenciennois(e)Versailles = versaillais(e)Vichy = vichyssois(e) -
15 Seasons
French never uses capital letters for names of seasons as English sometimes does.spring= le printempssummer= l’été mautumn or fall= l’automne mwinter= l’hiver min spring= au printempsin summer= en étéin autumn or fall= en automnein winter= en hiverIn the following examples, summer and été are used as models for all the season names. French normally uses the definite article, whether or not English does.I like summer or I like the summer= j’aime l’étéduring the summer= pendant l’été or au cours de l’étéin early summer= au début de l’étéin late summer= à la fin de l’étéfor the whole summer= pendant tout l’ététhroughout the summer= tout au long de l’étélast summer= l’été derniernext summer= l’été prochainthe summer before last= il y a deux ans en ététhe summer after next= dans deux ans en étéHowever, words like chaque, ce etc. may replace the definite article:every summer= tous les ans en ététhis summer= cet étéThere is never any article when en is used:in summer= en étéuntil summer= jusqu’en étéSeasons used as adjectives with other nounsDe alone, without article, is the usual form, e.g.summer clothes= des vêtements d’ététhe summer collection= la collection d’ététhe summer sales= les soldes d’étéa summer day= une journée d’étéa summer evening= un soir d’étéa summer landscape= un paysage d’étésummer weather= un temps d’été -
16 British regions and counties
The names of British regions and counties usually have the definite article in French, except when used with the preposition en.In, to and from somewhereMost counties and regions are masculine ; with these, in and to are translated by dans le, and from by du:to live in Sussex= vivre dans le Sussexto go to Sussex= aller dans le Sussexto come from Sussex= venir du SussexNote however:Cornwall= la Cornouaillesto live in Cornwall= vivre en Cornouaillesto go to Cornwall= aller en Cornouaillesto come from Cornwall= venir de la CornouaillesUses with nounsThere are rarely French equivalents for English forms like Cornishmen, and it is always safe to use de with the definite article:Cornishmen= les habitants mpl de la CornouaillesLancastrians= les habitants du LancashireIn other cases, du is often possible:a Somerset accent= un accent du Somersetthe Yorkshire countryside= les paysages du Yorkshirebut it is usually safe to use du comté de:the towns of Fife= les villes du comté de Fifethe rivers of Merioneth= les rivières du comté de Merionethor de la région de:Grampian cattle= le bétail de la région des GrampiansBig English-French dictionary > British regions and counties
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17 Date
Where English has several ways of writing dates, such as May 10, 10 May, 10th May etc. French has only one generally accepted way: le 10 mai, ( say le dix mai). However, as in English, dates in French may be written informally: 10.5.68 or 31/7/65 etc.The general pattern in French is:le cardinal number month yearle 10 mai 1901But if the date is the first of the month, use premier, abbreviated as 1er:May 1st 1901= le 1er mai 1901Note that French does not use capital letters for months, or for days of the week ⇒ The months of the year and ⇒ The days of the week ; also French does not usually abbreviate the names of the months:Sept 10= le 10 septembre etc.If the day of the week is included, put it after the le:Monday, May 1st 1901= le lundi 1er mai 1901Monday the 25th= lundi 25 ( say lundi vingt-cinq)Saying and writing dateswhat’s the date?= quel jour sommes-nous?it’s the tenth= nous sommes le dix or (less formally) on est le dixit’s the tenth of May= nous sommes le dix mai or (less formally) on est le dix mai* (i) There are two ways of saying hundreds and thousands in dates:1968= mille neuf cent soixante-huit or dix-neuf cent soixante-huit(ii) The spelling mil is used in legal French, otherwise mille is used in dates, except when a round number of thousands is involved, in which case the words l’an are added:1900= mille neuf cents2000= l’an deux mille† French prefers Roman numerals for centuries:the 16th century= le XVIeSaying onFrench uses only the definite article, without any word for on:it happened on 6th March= c’est arrivé le 6 mars ( say le six mars)he came on the 21st= il est arrivé le 21 ( say le vingt et un)see you on the 6th= on se voit le 6 ( say le six)on the 2nd of every month= le 2 de chaque mois ( say le deux...)he’ll be here on the 3rd= il sera là le 3 ( say le trois)Saying inFrench normally uses en for years but prefers en l’an for out-of-the-ordinary dates:in 1968= en 1968 ( say en mille neuf cent soixante-huit or en dix-neuf cent…)in 1896= en 1896 ( say en mille huit cent quatre-vingt-seize or en dix-huit cent…)in the year 2000= en l’an deux millein AD 27= en l’an 27 ( say l’an vingt-sept) de notre èrein 132 BC= en l’an 132 ( say l’an cent trente-deux) avant Jésus-ChristWith names of months, in is translated by en or au mois de:in May 1970= en mai mille neuf cent soixante-dix or au mois de mai mille neuf cent soixante-dixWith centuries, French uses au:in the seventeenth century= au dix-septième siècleThe word siècle is often omitted in colloquial French:in the eighteenth century= au dix-huitième siècle or (less formally) au dix-huitièmeNote also:in the early 12th century= au début du XIIe siècle ( say du douzième siècle)in the late 14th century= à or vers la fin du XIVe siècle ( say du quatorzième siècle)PhrasesRemember that the date in French always has the definite article, so, in combined forms, au and du are required:from the 10th onwards= à partir du 10 ( say du dix)stay until the 14th= reste jusqu’au 14 ( say au quatorze)from 21st to 30th May= du 21 au 30 mai ( say du vingt et un au trente mai)around 16th May= le 16 mai environ/vers le 16 mai ( say le seize mai) or aux environs du seize mai ( say du seize mai)not until 1999= pas avant 1999 ( say mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf)Shakespeare (1564-1616)= Shakespeare (1564-1616) ( say Shakespeare, quinze cent soixante-quatre-seize cent seize)Shakespeare b. 1564 d.1616= Shakespeare, né en 1564, mort en 1616 ( say Shakespeare, né en quinze cent soixante-quatre, mort en seize cent seize).Note that French has no abbreviations for né and mort.in May ’45= en mai 45 ( say en mai quarante-cinq)in the 1980s= dans les années 80 ( say dans les années quatre-vingts)in the early sixties= au début des années 60 ( say des années soixante)in the late seventies= à la fin des années 70 ( say des années soixante-dix)the riots of ’68= les émeutes de 68 ( say de soixante-huit)the 14-18 war= la guerre de 14 or de 14-18 ( say de quatorze or de quatorze-dix-huit)the 1912 uprising= le soulèvement de 1912 ( say de mille neuf cent douze) -
18 Games and sports
With or without the definite article?French normally uses the definite article with names of games and sports:football= le footballbridge= le bridgechess= les échecs mplmarbles= les billes fplcops and robbers= les gendarmes et les voleursto play football= jouer au footballto play bridge= jouer au bridgeto play chess= jouer aux échecsto play marbles or at marbles= jouer aux billesto play cops and robbers or at cops and robbers= jouer aux gendarmes et aux voleursto like football= aimer le footballto like chess= aimer les échecsBut most compound nouns (e.g. saute-mouton, colin-maillard, pigeon vole) work like this:hide-and-seek= cache-cache mto play at hide-and-seek= jouer à cache-cacheto like hide-and-seek= aimer jouer à cache-cacheNames of other ‘official’ games and sports follow the same pattern as bridge in the following phrases:to play bridge with X against Y= jouer au bridge avec X contre Yto beat sb at bridge= battre qn au bridgeto win at bridge= gagner au bridgeto lose at bridge= perdre au bridgeshe’s good at bridge= elle joue bien au bridgea bridge club= un club de bridgePlayers and eventsa bridge player= un joueur de bridgebutI’m not a bridge player= je ne joue pas au bridgehe’s a good bridge player= il joue bien au bridgea game of bridge= une partie de bridgea bridge champion= un champion de bridgethe French bridge champion= le champion de France de bridgea bridge championship= un championnat de bridgeto win the French championship= gagner le championnat de Francethe rules of bridge= les règles du bridgePlaying cardsThe names of the four suits work like club here:clubs= les trèfles mplto play a club= jouer un trèflea high/low club= un gros/petit trèflethe eight of clubs= le huit de trèflethe ace of clubs= l’as de trèfleI’ve no clubs left= je n’ai plus de trèflehave you any clubs?= as-tu du trèfle?clubs are trumps= l’atout est trèfleto call two clubs= demander deux trèflesOther games’ vocabulary can be found in the dictionary at match, game, set, trick etc. -
19 Rivers
The English word river can be either fleuve or rivière in French. Major rivers, all of which flow into the sea, are fleuves: the rest are rivières. Here are some examples of fleuves in France: la Garonne, la Loire, la Seine, le Rhin, le Rhône and la Somme: other fleuves include: le Nil, le Danube, le Gange, le Tage, l’Indus, l’Amazone, le Congo, le Mississippi, le Niger and le Saint-Laurent.The following French rivers are rivières: la Marne, l’Oise, l’Allier, la Dordogne, la Saône.As in English, French uses the definite article with names of rivers:the Thames= la Tamiseto go down the Rhine= descendre le Rhinto live near the Seine= habiter près de la Seinethe course of the Danube= le cours du DanubeIn English you can say the X, the X river or the river X. In French it is always le X (or la X):the river Thames= la Tamisethe Potomac river= le PotomacWhen the name of the river is used as an adjective, French has de + definite article:Seine barges= les péniches de la Seinea Rhine castle= un château des bords du Rhinthe Rhine estuary= l’estuaire du Rhin -
20 a
a [eɪ, ə]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Before vowel or silent h: an.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► In French, the indefinite article reflects the gender of the noun: for masculine nouns, use un; for feminine nouns, use une.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The definite article le, la, les is sometimes used in French to translate the indefinite article.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how the article is not used at all in the following examples referring to someone's profession or marital status.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• as a teacher, I believe that... en tant qu'enseignant, je crois que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note the different ways of translating a when it means per.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• $4 a person 4 dollars par personne• 3 euros a kilo 3 € le kilo* * *IA [eɪ] noun1) ( letter) a, A m2) A Music la m3) A ( place)4) a ( in house number) a; cf bis5) A GB ( road)II [ə, eɪ](avant voyelle ou ‘h’ muet an [æn, ən]) determiner un/une
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См. также в других словарях:
Definite article — Definite Def i*nite, a. [L. definitis, p. p. of definire: cf. F. d[ e]fini. See {Define}.] 1. Having certain or distinct; determinate in extent or greatness; limited; fixed; as, definite dimensions; a definite measure; a definite period or… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
definite article — definite articles N COUNT: usu the N The word the is sometimes called the definite article … English dictionary
definite article — n [C usually singular] 1.) the word the in English →↑indefinite article 2.) a word in another language that is like the … Dictionary of contemporary English
definite article — noun count usually singular LINGUISTICS the word the in English, or a similar type of word in another language … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
definite article — see the … Modern English usage
definite article — ► NOUN Grammar ▪ a determiner (the in English) that introduces a noun and implies that the thing mentioned has already been mentioned, is common knowledge, or is about to be defined … English terms dictionary
Definite Article — This article is about the comedy album by Eddie Izzard. For the grammatical term, see article (grammar). Definite Article Video by Eddie Izzard Released 21 October 1996 Recorded … Wikipedia
definite article — noun a determiner (as the in English) that indicates specificity of reference • Hypernyms: ↑article * * * noun, pl ⋯ articles [count] grammar : the word the used in English to refer to a person or thing that is identified or specified; also : a… … Useful english dictionary
definite article — UK / US noun [countable, usually singular] Word forms definite article : singular definite article plural definite articles linguistics the word the in English, or a similar type of word in another language … English dictionary
definite article — noun An article that introduces a noun and specifies it as the particular noun that is being considered; in English, the only definite article is the. See Also: article, indefinite article … Wiktionary
Definite article reduction — (DAR) is the term used in recent linguistic work to refer to the use of vowel less forms of the definite article the in Northern dialects of English English, for example in the Yorkshire dialect and accent. DAR is often represented by dialect… … Wikipedia