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French Grammar

Indefinite Articles

Non‑specific articles: un, une, des – the equivalents of ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘some’.

Level A1 Category Grammar

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Lesson Summary

Non‑specific articles: un, une, des – the equivalents of ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘some’.

Grammar

What are Indefinite Articles?

Indefinite articles introduce a noun that is not specifically identified. They correspond to the English “a”, “an”, or “some”. For the articles used when both speaker and listener know the exact noun, see definite articles.

The Three Indefinite Articles

Article	Used before	Example
un	masculine singular noun	un livre (a book)
une	feminine singular noun	une table (a table)
des	plural noun (any gender)	des livres, des tables (some books, some tables)

Definite vs. Indefinite

A definite article signals that the noun is known to both parties. An indefinite article signals that the noun is any one of its kind, not a particular instance.

- Le professeur est sympa. (The specific teacher – both know which one.)
- Un professeur est sympa. (Any teacher – not previously identified.)

- Les étudiants sont là. (The particular students.)
- Des étudiants sont là. (Some students, no specific group.)

After Negation

Following a negative verb (ne … pas), the indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d’ before a vowel).

- J’ai un frère. → Je n’ai pas de frère.
- Il a des amis. → Il n’a pas d’amis.

This rule will be examined in detail in a future lesson on negation.

Examples

J’ai un frère.
Masculine singular indefinite article un.
Tu as une sœur ?
Feminine singular indefinite article une.
Nous avons des amis à Paris.
Plural indefinite article des (some friends).

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These are the main phrases this lesson covers:

Indefinite ArticlesNon‑specific articles: un, une, des – the equivalents of ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘some’.Distinguish between definite and indefinite reference and select the appropriate article for the noun’s gender and number.GrammarA1grammarLearn French GrammarFrench GrammarWhat are Indefinite Articles?Indefinite articles introduce a noun that is not specifically identified. They correspond to the English “a”, “an”, or “some”. For the articles used when both speaker and listener know the exact noun, see definite articles.