Article zéro

French Zero Article

See also: Article and Article Types

The "zero article" is the classification for phantom articles, when nouns are used with no article at all.

In English, the zero article is extremely common:

  • I love [*] beer.
  • Let's talk about [*] politics.

In French, definite articles are required in these sentences:

  • J'aime la bière.
  • Parlons de la politique.

There is one common case where an indefinite article is required in English but not in French: when talking about someone's profession or another descriptive noun.

  • Il est [*] plombier. - He's a plumber.
  • Elle est [*] étudiante. - She's a student.
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