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de + le = du le livre du professeur (the teacher’s book).
de + les = des les livres des élèves (the pupils’ books).
We can presume that the first two forms of the fused article can be translated into English by the form of the Dative case and are rendered by the preposition to. The forms du, des are translated into English by the Genitive case and take the form of ´s and having the same meaning of possession as in French.
1.3.2 The Indefinite Article in French
The French indefinite articles (l’article indéfini) are:
un – with nouns in masculine, singular, un garçon;
une – with nouns in feminine, singular, une fille;
des – with nouns in masculine and feminine, plural form, des enfants.
1.3.3 The Partial Article (article partitif)
The french partial article has three forms:
du – with nouns in masculine, singular, du garçon;
de la – with nouns in feminine, singular, de la fille ;
des – with nouns in masculine and feminine, in the plural form, des enfants.
The “partitif” article does not have its exact equivalent in English. It is used with mass nouns such as water, to indicate only a part or a non-specific quantity of it. As in the following example :
French : Je voudrais du lait et du pain.
English : I would like some milk and some bread.
French: Voulez-vous du café ?
English: Do you want (some) coffee?
We may assume that the French partial article corresponds to the English indefinite pronoun “some”.
As we mostly are interested in the definite article we will analyze and compare only its forms, its origins in both languages. Scrutinizing the definite articles of the English and the French languages we can find significant differences in their forms. First of all one should remember that the English definite article takes its origin from the Old English demonstrative pronoun se, whereas the French definite article has the Latin origin and also comes from the demonstrative pronoun (ille). Another difference is that the English definite article has one graphic form the,and the French definite article has four forms: le, la, l’, les. One of the most important differences in the definite article between the two languages is that the French definite articles agree in gender and number with the noun they belong to, which is not observed in English. The French definite article besides its four forms le, la, l’, les has another type of article that also belongs to the group of the definite article – article contracté which also has four forms (au, aux, du, des).
2. Contrastive Study of the Definite Article’s Usage in English and
French
Before speaking about the usage of the definite article with class nouns in English and French languages we would like to present first of all the functions of the definite article in both languages.
2.1 The Functions of the Definite Article in English
For revealing the functions of the English definite article we consulted the books of the following linguists as M.Ia. Blokh, E.M. Gordon and Barmina and Verkhovskaya. After studying Barmina and Verkhovskaya’s theory on the article we can ascertain some functions of the definite article. According to the linguists it can have:
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the morphologic function that consists in serving as a formal indicator of the noun: the presence of the article signals that what follows is a noun.
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syntactic function. The definite article may connect sentences within a text by correlating a noun it modifies with some word or a group of words in the previous context. In the example below the definite article has the connecting function.
John has brought a book. The book is interesting.
M. Ia. Blokh mentions that the definite article expresses the identification or individualization of the referent of the noun: the use of this article shows that the object denoted is taken in its concrete, individual quality. E. M. Gordon also mentions the idea of individualization. He distinguishes the following functions of the definite article.
When used with countable nouns, either concrete or abstract, the English definite article has two distinct functions:
1) It may be used with singular and plural nouns to show that the noun denotes a particular object (a thing, a person, an animal or an abstract notion) or a group of objects as distinct from the others of the same kind. In other words, the definite article serves to single out an object or several objects from all the other objects of the same class. This function is called the individualized function of the definite article.
e. g. The car stopped. Paul got out and stretched himself.
2) The definite article may also have the generic function with countable nouns.
With nouns in the singular it serves to indicate that the noun becomes a composite image of the class.
e.g. The tiger has always had the reputation of being a man-eater.
With uncountable nouns, the function of the definite article can be called restricting.
The definite article restricts the material denoted by a concrete uncountable noun to a definite quantity, portion or to a definite locality (a); it also restricts the abstract notion expressed by an uncountable noun to a particular instance (b).
e.g. a) As we came out into the cold damp air, she shivered.
b) The work seemed to consist chiefly on interviewing young women for jobs in department stores.
We are mostly concerned in the functions of the definite article with countable nouns. Thus, we learned that the definite article has two functions with countable nouns: individualized and generic functions. In the first case it distinguishes one object from the others of the same kind, in the second it serves to present an object instead of the whole class as compared to other classes.
2.2 The functions of the definite article in French
1) Speaking about the French definite article it should be known that it serves to indicate a specific noun.
Je vais à la banque. Voici le livre que j'ai lu.
I'm going to the bank. Here is the book I read.
Thus the first function of the French definite article is demonstrative function.
2) Besides its demonstrative meaning it has a possessive meaning:
Alexandre se frotta les yeux avec le revers du pouce, et porta les mains à ses reins. (R. Merle)
Alex wiped his eyes with the back of his thumb, and put his hands on his loins.
From this example is clearly seen that the French use the definite article instead of possessive pronouns in English.
3) the meaning of generalization.
e.g. L’homme est plutôt un animal bienveillant quand il n’est ni jaloux ni inquiet.(A. Maurois) – Man is rather a well-wishing animal when he is neither jealous nor anxious.
We can observe the difference in using the definite article in English and French. In French sentence we have the noun used with the definite article in its generalizing function. The noun in English variant is not used with the definite article as in this case the noun man has a generic sense and no article is used.
4) distributive meaning.
e.g. … Nous ne pouvons vous racheter cela à plus de deux cents francs le mètre .
We can’t buy it more than two hundreds francs per meter.
The definite article used in French sentence is translated by the term per in English with the meaning of each.
5) It can indicate a usual fact that is repeated regularly.
e.g. Comme ça doit vous assommer de vous habiller devant elle, le matin.
Thus you have to assume that you have to dress up before her every morning.
In this example le matin has the meaning of every morning that is why we translate it in English with the indefinite adjective every.
6) Before cardinal numerals it can designate approximation in the meaning of “about”. This refers to the cases when the definite article precedes such nouns as heure (hour), ans, années (years), mois (month), etc.
e.g. Elle avais un visage si clair, un peau si tendre ; elle était bien jolie dans sa robe rose et menue, elle pouvait avoir dans les huit ans.
She had a bright face, a gentle skin, she was beautiful in her fine pink dress, and she was about eight years.
The definite article used in French is translated by the preposition about in the meaning of imprecise number.
After analyzing the use of the definite article in French sentences and studying their translations into English we discover some differences in the functions and meanings of the definite article in English and French. The differences appear in cases when the definite article in French is translated in English by possessive, indefinite adjectives and prepositions depending on the meaning it conveys:
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possessive meaning of the French definite article;
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generalizing meaning;
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distributive meaning;
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indication of the usual fact;
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in the meaning of imprecise number.
The only similarity that exists between the functions of the definite article in both languages is that of a demonstrative that serves for denoting a single object from the others.
2.3 The Usage of the Definite Article with Class Nouns in English
As it was stated in the paragraph 1.2.1 the definite article is used before the nouns in singular and plural. The definite article can be used with different types of nouns: proper nouns and common nouns. We are mostly interested in the use of the definite article with common nouns namely the use of the definite article with class nouns. Class nouns are the nouns that denote persons or things belonging to a class. They are countable and have two numbers: singular and plural.
For defining the general rules of the definite article’s usage with class nouns we consulted the books on the English grammar of several linguists: V. L. Kaushanskaya, E. M. Gordon, Gashina, L. A. Barmina and I. P. Verkhovskaya. After looking up Kaushanskaya’s, Gashina’s and Vasilevskaya’s books we singled out the following cases of the usage of the definite article with class nouns.
The definite article can be used with class nouns:
1. When a class-noun denotes an object which is regarded by the speaker as a definite object distinct from all other objects of a certain class. The context or the whole situation shows that the speaker has a definite object in mind and therefore uses the definite article. An object is singled out in the following cases:
a) when the speaker and the hearer know what particular object is meant. No special indication is necessary.
How did you like the play?
That means that interlocutors know which play they are talking about. In this case the is a kind of indicator.
b) when the speaker uses an attribute pointing out a particular object. Such an attribute might be called a particularizing attribute. A particularizing attribute is used to single out an object from all the objects of the class, to point out one particular object or group of objects. A particularizing attribute can be expressed by an “of”-phrase or an attributive clause. It is always used in post-position.
e. g.: He knocked at the door of a very neat house.
The letters that I have here have come to me quite by accident.
When a noun is used with an attribute it is clear that one certain object from the whole group is meant. The definite article precedes the noun thus helping the reader to figure out that object.
c) when the situation itself makes the object definite.
e. g.: The wedding looked dismal. The bride was too old and the bridegroom was too young.
From this example we understand that not any bride and bridegroom are meant, but those from the dismal wedding.
When an object is singled out from all the objects of a given class the definite article retains its demonstrative meaning, and the English use the definite article much oftener than the demonstrative pronouns this or that. This can be explained by the easiness in pronunciation. Analyzing all these three instances we notice that the is used mostly in the function of a determinative to distinguish an object from a number of objects similar to it.
2. The definite article is used with class nouns which denote things considered to be unique, such as the earth, the sun, the moon. Here we have a special case: the class consists only of one representative, and therefore the object denoted by the noun is always definite in our mind.
e. g. The earth and the sky were already beginning to be enriched with the evening (Chesterton).
3. With nouns used in a generic sense.
A singular countable noun with a definite article may represent a whole class of objects, thus becoming a composite image of that class (but not a typical representative). A noun in this function is called a generic singular. A noun used in a generic sense denotes a genus taken as a whole, a thing taken as a type, a genre.
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