In French, articles and determiners are required on almost every common noun, and are inflected to agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun they determine.
The Definite Article (定冠词)
  singular plural
before consonant before vowel/mute h
masculine
阳性		 le l' les
feminine
阴性		 la
Note: preposition contractions: à (to, at): au=à+le, aux=à+les; and de (of, from): du=de+le, des=de+les
The Indefinite Article (不定冠词)
masculine
阳性		 un des
(some 一些)
feminine
阴性		 une
Note: 1. The indefinite article becomes de (or d'+vowel) after a negative verb (except être): Je n'ai pas de livre. (I do not have any book.) 2. des+adjective+noun → de+...: de nombreux livres (many books), d'autres livres (other books)
The Partitive Article (部分冠词)
masculine
阳性		 du de l' des
feminine
阴性		 de la
Note: The partitive article indicates an unknown quantity of something, usually food or drink, e.g.,
Nous voudrions du lait. (We'd like some milk.) J'ai eu du mal. (It was tough. Note: J'ai eu mal = it hurt) J'ai mangé de la glace. (I ate some ice cream.)
The plural partitive article des refers to something plural uncountable: Peux-tu me donner des conseils ? (Could you give me some advice?)
The plural indefinite article des refers to more than one countable thing in an indefinite sense: Il a des livres intéressants. (He has some interesting books.) [Note: "quelques" means a few: quelques jours plus tard (a few days later)]
In a negative construction, use "de": Nous ne voudrions pas de lait. (We don't want any milk.) Je n'ai pas acheté de chaussettes. (I didn't buy any socks.)
Tips: 1) Jouer du, de la, des... + music instrument, e.g., il joue du piano. il joue de la guitare. 2) Jouer à l', à la, au, aux + sports/games, e.g., il joue aux cartes. il joue au foot.
Possessive determiners Possessed
singular plural
masculine nouns / before vowels/mute-h's feminine nouns starting with consonants
Possessor first person singular mon ma mes
plural notre nos
second person singular ton ta tes
plural votre vos
third person singular son sa ses
plural leur leurs
Examples: mon pays (my country), ma ville (my city), mes amis (my friends), notre gouvernement (our government), nos élections (our elections), C'est ma voiture. (This is my car.) Leurs fleurs sont jolies. (Their flowers are pretty.)
Demonstrative determiners: singular masculine: ce and cet (before vowel and mute h); singular feminine: cette; plural: ces
Examples: cet homme-ci (this man), cet homme-là (that man)

French Nouns

1. Every French noun has a grammatical gender, either masculine or feminine.
Typical Endings for Masculine Nouns
-eau le bateau (boat), le manteau (coat)
-ège le manège (merry go round), le collège (high school)
-é le café (coffee/café), le canapé (sofa), le supermarché (supermarket)
-ment le gouvernement (government), un abonnement (subscription)
-in le vin (wine), le magasin (shop), le jardin (garden)
-on le poisson (fish), le garçon (boy)
-s le bus (bus), le bas (bottom), le plus (plus)
Nouns ending in -b, -c, -cle, -d, -k, -l, -m, -oir, -p, -ing and -isme are typically masculine.
Typical Endings for Feminine Nouns
-e (-elle, -enne, -emme, -esse, -erre, -ette, -ence, -ance, -ale, -ace, -be, -ade, -ée, -erie, -ère, ique, -ine, -ise, -ure...) la chaussette (sock), la fillette (little girl), la terre (earth), la pelle (shovel), la patience, l'enfance (childhood), la glace (ice cream), la robe (dress), la promenade (walk), la fusée (rocket), la librairie (bookshop), l'épicerie (grocery), la mère (mother), la boutique, la musique (music), la cousine (cousin), la chaussure (shoe), une chemise de nuit (a night gown to go to bed), une robe du soir (a night gown to go out), la monnaie (small change), la madame (married), la mademoiselle (not married)
-sion la passion (passion), la repression (repression), prendre une décision (make a decision)
-tion la situation, la question, l'éducation, l'opération
Nouns of countries and proper names ending in -e Michèle, Paule, La France, l'Angleterre (England)
These endings are more often masculine than feminine:
-age le village (village), le garage (garage)
une image (picture), la plage (beach)
-ier/-er le fermier (farmer), le pommier (apple tree)
-eur le travailleur (worker), le moteur (motor)
-o le vélo (bike), le zéro (zero)
la méteo (weather forecast), la moto (motorbike)
Some nouns have two forms determined by their natural gender, e.g., chanteur (male singer), chanteuse (female singer)
US states are masculine, except for la Californie, la Caroline du Nord, la Caroline du Sud, la Floride, la Georgie, la Louisiane, La Pennsylvanie, La Virginie, La Virginie Occidentale, L'île d'Hawaï.
2. There are two grammatical numbers: singular and plural. The plural noun is usually formed from the singular by adding the suffix -s, or sometimes -x. For example, nuits→nuits (night), bateau→bateaux (boat), des jumeaux (boy twins), des jumelles (girl twins)