French Contracted Article
See also: Article and Article Types
When the French definite articles le and les are preceded by the prepositions à or de, the two words contract.
- à + le = au
- à + les = aux
- de + le = du
- de + les = des
The articles la and l' do not contract:
- à + la = à la
- à + l' = à l'
- de + la = de la
- de + l' = de l'
Note: when le and les are direct objects, they do not contract.