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In formal French, such as in news reports or diplomatic settings, you will often need to define someone's title or describe a place immediately after mentioning their name. Placing a descriptive noun phrase right next to another noun like this is called **apposition**.

### Dropping the Article for Titles and Roles

When a noun phrase is used in apposition (usually separated by commas), French routinely drops the article (**un**, **une**, **le**, **la**). Where English would say "the president, **a** diplomat," French simply says "the president, diplomat."

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### Adding Adjectives

You can freely attach adjectives to this descriptive noun to give more detail. Even with adjectives, the article is still completely omitted.

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### Geographic Facts and Places

This zero-article rule does not just apply to people and their professions. It is also the standard, elegant way to summarize geographic facts or describe cities and countries.

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Zero article in apposition

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the negotiator	le négociateur
the assembly (f)	l'assemblée
the pact	le pacte
bilateral	bilatéral
The minister, a great negotiator of the assembly, is reading the bilateral pact.	Le ministre, grand négociateur de l'assemblée, lit le pacte bilatéral.
the chancellor (f)	la chancelière
the delegation	la délégation
the diplomat	le diplomate
Our colleague, a chancellor, is speaking to the delegation as a diplomat.	Notre collègue, chancelière, parle à la délégation en tant que diplomate.
the counterpart (m)	l'homologue
the chancellor	le chancelier
The president sees his counterpart, chancellor of Germany.	Le président voit son homologue, chancelier d'Allemagne.
the envoy (m)	l'émissaire
The envoy, a good diplomat, says that he accepts this bilateral pact.	L'émissaire, bon diplomate, dit qu'il accepte ce pacte bilatéral.
the secretary	le secrétaire
The delegation meets the secretary, envoy of the president.	La délégation rencontre le secrétaire, émissaire du président.
The chancellor listens to his counterpart, a bad negotiator but a great speaker.	Le chancelier écoute son homologue, mauvais négociateur mais grand orateur.
The chancellor (f) organizes the assembly as a diplomat.	La chancelière organise l'assemblée en tant que diplomate.
The secretary reads the new pact to the assembly.	Le secrétaire lit le nouveau pacte à l'assemblée.
Paris, a beautiful capital, welcomes the bilateral delegation.	Paris, belle capitale, accueille la délégation bilatérale.
The ambassador, negotiator of the agreement, says hello to the chancellor.	L'ambassadeur, négociateur de l'accord, dit bonjour au chancelier.
His counterpart, envoy of France, is reading this document.	Son homologue, émissaire de la France, lit ce document.
The chancellor and the minister read the pact together.	Le chancelier et le ministre lisent le pacte ensemble.