ELONIO
Log inSign up

Je ferme la porte de la maison.

Je ferme la porte de la maison.
I close the door of the house.
FromLesson 4inHardcore French

Breakdown of Je ferme la porte de la maison.

je
I
la maison
the house
de
of
la porte
the door
fermer
to close

Questions & Answers about Je ferme la porte de la maison.

Why is the article la used for porte?
In French, porte is a feminine noun. Therefore, we use the feminine definite article la instead of the masculine le.
Why is it de la maison instead of du maison?
Because maison is also a feminine noun. If maison were masculine, we would merge de and le into du (e.g., du jardin). But with a feminine noun, de and la remain separate as de la.
Why doesn't je become j' before ferme?
In French, we only drop the e when the next word starts with a vowel or a silent h (for example, j'aime). Since ferme starts with an audible consonant (f), we keep je as it is.
Why is the form ferme used for the verb?
Ferme is the first-person singular present tense of the verb fermer (to close). You use je ferme when talking about yourself in the present.
Do I always need to use the article before porte and maison in French?
Generally, yes. In French, nouns typically need an article unless another rule allows dropping it. Here, la porte and la maison are both definite nouns (specific door and specific house), so we use the definite article la.
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning French

Master French — from Je ferme la porte de la maison to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions
Start learning French→