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Quiz · A2 · 15 questions

French articles quiz: le, la, un, du or de?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Fifteen questions on the small words in front of French nouns. Each answer explains the rule, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

  1. Liking in general

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.J’aime ___ chocolat.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    le. With aimer, adorer, détester and préférer you talk about something in general, so French uses the definite article: j’aime le chocolat.

  2. Some, an amount

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Le matin, je bois ___ café.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    du. You drink some coffee, an amount you don’t count: that is the partitive du (de + le).

  3. After a negative

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Il n’y a pas ___ lait dans le frigo.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    de. After pas, the partitive du and the indefinite un/une/des become de: il n’y a pas de lait.

  4. Counting one

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Elle a ___ chat et deux chiens.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    un. A chat you can count, mentioned for the first time: un chat.

  5. Quantities

    QuestionNo account needed
    Type the missing word.Je voudrais ___ kilo de pommes.

    Type one word. Accents count.

    Answer and explanation

    un. Un kilo is a quantity you count. After the quantity itself, French uses de: un kilo de pommes.

  6. Countries

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.___ Japon est un grand pays.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Le. Country names usually take the definite article. Japon is masculine: le Japon.

  7. Before a vowel

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Cet été, nous visitons ___ Italie.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    l’. Italie is feminine, but la becomes l’ before a vowel sound: l’Italie.

  8. Plural, not counted yet

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Tu as ___ frères ou ___ sœurs ?

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    des … des. Des is the plural of un/une: some brothers, some sisters. The question is not negative, so des stays.

  9. Beaucoup de

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Il mange beaucoup ___ légumes.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    de. After words of quantity such as beaucoup, peu, assez and trop, use de on its own: beaucoup de légumes.

  10. Days of the week

    QuestionNo account needed
    What does this sentence mean?Le lundi, je vais à la piscine.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Every Monday. Le + day describes a habit: le lundi means on Mondays. For one particular Monday, French drops the article: lundi, je vais à la piscine.

  11. One particular thing

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.C’est ___ voiture de ma sœur.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    la. De ma sœur tells you exactly which car, so it takes the definite article: la voiture de ma sœur.

  12. Ne … pas + avoir

    QuestionNo account needed
    Type the missing word.Je n’ai pas ___ voiture.

    Type one word. Accents count.

    Answer and explanation

    de. J’ai une voiture becomes je n’ai pas de voiture: une changes to de after the negative.

  13. Describing people

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Elle a ___ yeux bleus.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    les. For hair and eyes, French uses avoir with the definite article: elle a les yeux bleus, il a les cheveux courts.

  14. Être is the exception

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article.Ce n’est pas ___ café, c’est du thé.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    du. The change to de happens after negative verbs like avoir and manger, not after être. Ce n’est pas du café keeps du.

  15. An adjective first

    QuestionNo account needed
    Choose the article in careful written French.Il y a ___ belles maisons dans cette rue.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    de. When a plural adjective comes before the noun, written French often uses de instead of des: de belles maisons. In speech you will also hear des.

The rules in one place

How to choose the article

Ask what the noun refers to. Something known, unique or meant in general takes le, la, l’, les. Something you count, mentioned for the first time, takes un, une, des. An amount you don’t count, like bread, water or patience, takes du, de la, de l’.

Two situations reduce the article to de: after a negative (pas de sucre) and after a quantity (un peu de sucre). The definite article never changes: je n’aime pas le sucre.

Keep going

Original questions written for this page. Answers accept curly or straight apostrophes; accents count.