Names of Countries in French: Masculine Feminine Articles

Masculine Feminine Definite Articles with the Names of Countries in French

When evoking the names of countries in French, you will usually use a definite French masculine, feminine or plural article (le / la / les) to go with it.

It means that when speaking about a specific country, let's take France and Germany for example, you will need to say " l'Allemagne" but not "Allemagne" and "la France" and not just "France". Example: 

  • A: Quel est le nom du pays à l'est de la France ? What's the name of the country east of France ? 
  • B: C'est l'Allemagne. It's Germany. 

However if you are interested in expressing in French the idea of going to a country, city or continent (Eg. Je suis à Paris, Je vais en Russie, Je vis aux Etats-Unis), you should check the "à", "en" and "aux" lesson. 

When Use the Definite Article ? 

In general, you must use a definite article in front of the names of countries, continents, mountains, seas, lakes and rivers. Some of the frequent usage examples:  


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