French - English Dictionary
/lə/
Le is the French definite article meaning 'the', and also functions as a direct object pronoun meaning 'him', 'it', or 'them'.
| # | Type | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pronoun | le accusative / direct object | him |
| 2 | pronoun | le object — see also that | it |
| 3 | article | le article | the |
| 4 | article | le with a superlative | the |
| 5 | article | le used with the name of a member of a class to refer to all things in that class | the |
| 6 | adjective | le in that state | so |
| 7 | article | le | the (definite article) |
| 8 | article | le | the; my, your, etc. |
| 9 | article | le | a, an, per |
| 10 | article | le | on |
| 11 | pronoun | le | him, her, it, them |
| 12 | pronoun | le | replaces the argument of a copular verb, especially être; often not translated in English |
Le chat est sur la table.
The cat is on the table.
Tu le vois? Je le vois aussi.
Do you see him? I see him too.
C'est le meilleur café de la ville.
It's the best coffee in town.
As an article, le is used before masculine singular nouns (le jour, le pain). As a pronoun, le replaces a masculine singular noun or can refer to an idea; it always comes before the verb and cannot stand alone. Common mistake: forgetting le before a masculine noun, or confusing it with la (feminine) or les (plural).
Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Audio: Wikimedia Commons