French Contracted Article

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2022-12-13

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.