When is "le" omitted from "le français"? Is it only with "parler", or is there a general rule? I ask in relation to this Q&A:
"He will study either French or Italian" = "Il étudiera soit le français soit l'italien".
When is "le" omitted from "le français"? Is it only with "parler", or is there a general rule? I ask in relation to this Q&A:
"He will study either French or Italian" = "Il étudiera soit le français soit l'italien".
Hi Harry,
Both are possible and I suppose the difference would be between
'to speak French'
and
'to speak the French language'
but you will hear both.
Bonne Continuation !
Hi Harry,
I also find this point tricky to deal with. Key is the usage as a noun or adjective?
I suggest that you have a look here to assess the various options:-
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/Fran%C3%A7ais
Hope you will find it helpful
Jim
Jim is right: when used as a noun, you add the article. If it's an adjective, you leave it out:
"Je parle le français" vs. "je parle français". Confusingly enough, both mean "I speak French" but the first one refers to French as a noun, whereas the second one uses "français" as an adjective. Here is a sentence that makes it more obvious:
Le français est une langue parlé en France. -- French is a language spoken in France. (used as a noun)
Les français parlent français. -- The French speak French. (used as an adjective)
Pierre est français. -- Pierre is French (used as an adjective)
Il est le français que j'ai rencontré hier. -- He is the "Frenchman" whom I met yesterday. In this sentence, "français" refers to a male French person and not the language, of course.
@ Chris
Not sure to use "le français" after the verb parler though -- Je parle le français ?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level