le
/lə/masculine
The English phrase "the" is translated into French using the article le. Wiktionary also lists l' and la.
Meaning: article (article)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| le | /lə/ /l‿/ |
masculine |
| l' | /l‿/ | |
| la | /la/ | feminine |
| les | /lɛ/ /lɛ.z‿/ |
plural |
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, you must choose between le and la based on the grammatical gender of the noun.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form les is used for both masculine and feminine nouns. The forms le and la contract to l' before a word starting with a vowel or a silent h.
How do you pronounce it?
/lə/
Did you know?
- The French words le, la and les actually evolved from the Latin word ille, which meant 'that' rather than 'the'.
- French has a separate set of 'partitive' articles, like du and de la, used to describe an unknown quantity of something, a concept English expresses with 'some'.
- French uses le and la to express general concepts, such as saying le chien when talking about dogs in general, whereas English usually uses no article at all.
Examples in context
- Il a le ballon.He got the ball.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use le.Tatoeba #446522 by chtof, translation #292709 by CM
- Devine le prix ?Can you guess the price?Tatoeba #129290 by sacredceltic, translation #276974 by CK
- Où est la gare ?Where is the railroad station?This sentence is useful for seeing how to use la.Tatoeba #136614 by Aiji, translation #26041 by CM
- le livreThe book
- la maisonThe house
- les livresThe books
- les maisonsThe houses
- l'hommeThe man
- l'histoireThe story
- 17406 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are at a cafe.
- GabrielOù est le café ?Where is the cafe?
- LéaLe café est juste là.The cafe is right there.
- GabrielEst-ce que le menu est sur la table ?Is the menu on the table?
- LéaOui, le menu est ici.Yes, the menu is here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “the” translations and entries le, l', la, les, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries la, le, les, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
