This lesson tackles one of the most important — and most commonly misunderstood — features of French grammar: contracted articles. Every time you say 'I'm going to the...' in French, the word 'to the' changes depending on the gender and number of the noun that follows. Once you've nailed 'au', 'à la', 'à l'', and 'aux', you'll sound much more natural in French. It also works in reverse: 'from the' uses 'du', 'de la', 'de l'', and 'des'. Let's unlock this system!
Learning tips
- The key rule: 'à + le' always becomes 'au', and 'de + le' always becomes 'du'. These contractions are obligatory — you cannot say 'à le marché' in correct French.
- With feminine nouns, no contraction happens: 'à la banque', 'de la boulangerie'. With words beginning with a vowel or silent h, use 'à l'' and 'de l''.
- For plural nouns (les), both 'à les' → 'aux' and 'de les' → 'des' contract. So 'I go to the museums' is 'je vais aux musées'.
- A handy trick: if the noun is masculine singular, you need 'au' (to) or 'du' (from). For everything else, look at the article: 'la' → 'à la / de la'; 'l'' → 'à l' / de l''; 'les' → 'aux / des'.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| le métro | the metro |
| le bus | the bus |
| le taxi | the taxi |
| le vélo | the bike |
| le billet | the ticket |
| la station | the station |
| la ligne | the (metro) line |
| changer | to change (lines) |
| descendre | to get off |
| monter | to get on |
Dialog
Camille and Lucas are having coffee and planning their day. They use 'aller' (to go) and 'venir' (to come / to come from) with various places, naturally producing all the contracted article forms. Notice how the contractions appear automatically whenever a masculine noun follows 'à' or 'de'.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| au | /o/ | to the (masculine singular) / at the | Contraction of 'à + le'. Used before masculine nouns: 'au marché', 'au parc', 'au bureau'. Cannot be split back into 'à le'. |
| à la | /a la/ | to the / at the (feminine singular) | No contraction needed: 'à la banque', 'à la gare'. Use this before all feminine nouns that don't start with a vowel. |
| à l' | /a l/ | to the / at the (before a vowel or silent h) | Used for both masculine and feminine nouns beginning with a vowel: 'à l'école', 'à l'hôpital'. The apostrophe replaces the 'a' of 'la'. |
| aux | /o/ | to the / at the (plural) | Contraction of 'à + les'. Used before all plural nouns: 'aux musées', 'aux marchés'. Pronounced /o/ — same sound as 'au'. |
| du | /dy/ | from the / of the (masculine singular) | Contraction of 'de + le'. 'Je viens du marché' (I'm coming from the market). Also used as a partitive: 'du pain' (some bread). |
| de la | /də la/ | from the / of the (feminine singular) | No contraction: 'de la boulangerie', 'de la gare'. Also partitive: 'de la confiture' (some jam). |
| de l' | /də l/ | from the / of the (before a vowel or silent h) | Used before nouns starting with a vowel: 'de l'école', 'de l'hôpital'. The apostrophe replaces the 'e' of 'de'. |
| des | /de/ | from the / of the (plural) / some | Contraction of 'de + les'. 'Je viens des musées' (I'm coming from the museums). Also the plural partitive: 'des croissants' (some croissants). |
| aller | /a.le/ | to go | Irregular verb reviewed here in context. Combines with 'au/à la/aux' to express destination. |
| venir | /və.niʁ/ | to come | Irregular verb. Je viens, tu viens, il vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils viennent. Combines with 'du/de la/des' to express origin. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| revenir | /ʁə.və.niʁ/ | ||
| retourner | /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/ | ||
| partir | /paʁ.tiʁ/ | ||
| arriver | /a.ʁi.ve/ | ||
| rentrer | /ʁɑ̃.tʁe/ | ||
| passer | /pa.se/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| je vais au / à la | I'm going to the... (au / à la) |
| je viens de / du | I'm coming from the... (de / du) |
| à + le = au | à + le = au (contraction rule) |
Grammar: Articles contractés (au, aux, du, des)
| Preposition | Article | Result | Exemple |
|---|---|---|---|
| à | le | au | Je vais au marché. |
| à | les | aux | Je vais aux musées. |
| à | la | à la | Je vais à la banque. |
| à | l' | à l' | Je vais à l'école. |
| de | le | du | Je viens du marché. |
| de | les | des | Je viens des musées. |
| de | la | de la | Je viens de la banque. |
| de | l' | de l' | Je viens de l'école. |
In French, 'to the' and 'from the' do not have a single fixed translation — they change based on the gender and number of the following noun. When the preposition 'à' (to/at) meets the definite article 'le' (masculine singular), they merge into 'au'. When 'à' meets 'les' (plural), they merge into 'aux'. There is no contraction with 'la' (feminine) or 'l'' (before a vowel), so they stay as 'à la' and 'à l''. The same pattern applies to 'de' (from/of): 'de + le' → 'du', 'de + les' → 'des', while 'de la' and 'de l'' remain unchanged. Here is the full picture: je vais au marché (m. sg.) / je vais à la banque (f. sg.) / je vais à l'école (vowel) / je vais aux musées (plural) / je viens du marché / je viens de la banque / je viens de l'école / je viens des musées. These contractions are not optional — using 'à le' or 'de le' is a grammatical error. The good news is that the rule is completely regular: once you know the gender of a noun, you know exactly which form to use.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct contracted article (au, à la, aux, du, de la, de l').
- Je vais marché le samedi matin. (au/à la)(le marché → masculine singular, going TO)
- Elle vient boulangerie avec du pain. (du/de la)(la boulangerie → feminine singular, coming FROM)
- Ils vont musées le dimanche. (au/aux)(les musées → plural, going TO)
- Tu viens école à pied ? (de l'/du)(l'école → begins with vowel, coming FROM)
- Nous allons parc après le déjeuner. (au/à la)(le parc → masculine singular, going TO)
Grammar Application
Apply the contraction rule to combine each phrase — write the contracted form.
- Je vais à + le restaurant → (à + le restaurant → contract to...)
- Elle vient de + les magasins → (de + les magasins → contract to...)
- Nous allons à + la pharmacie → (à + la pharmacie → no contraction needed)
- Il vient de + le bureau → (de + le bureau → contract to...)
- Vous allez à + l'hôpital → (à + l'hôpital → no contraction with l')
Translate into French
Translate each sentence into French, paying careful attention to the contracted articles.
- I'm going to the market and to the bank.
- She's coming from the office at noon.
- We're going to the museums this weekend.
- Are you coming from school?
- He's coming from the market with some fruit.
Build Your Own Sentence
Write your own French sentences about where you are going today and where you are coming from, using contracted articles correctly.
Takeaway
Remember the golden rule: 'à + le = au' and 'de + le = du' — these contractions are compulsory in French and happen automatically once you know the gender of the noun.