L'article médical est intéressant.

The medical article is interesting.

Breakdown of L'article médical est intéressant.

• être: to be
• intéressant: interesting
• l'article: the article
• médical: medical

Questions & Answers about L'article médical est intéressant.

Why is L’ used instead of Le before article?

In French, le (the masculine singular definite article) drops its e and becomes l’ when the following word starts with a vowel or mute h. This process is called elision and it avoids a vowel-to-vowel clash. Since article begins with a, you write L’article rather than Le article.

Why is the adjective médical not médicale?

Adjectives in French agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
• Article is masculine singular, so its adjective must also be masculine singular.
• The masculine form of the adjective is médical; the feminine would be médicale.
Hence l’article médical.

Why does the adjective médical come before the noun in English (“medical article”) but after the noun in French?

Word order for adjectives differs between English and French:
• In English, most adjectives precede the noun.
• In French, the neutral position for adjectives is after the noun.
Only a handful of very common adjectives (like beau, grand, petit, jeune) typically come before the noun. Médical is not one of those, so it follows the noun: l’article médical.

Could I use the indefinite article instead, like Un article médical est intéressant? What changes?

Yes, you can.
• Un is the masculine singular indefinite article (a/an).
• L’article refers to “the particular article” you and your listener know about.
• Un article would mean “some/any medical article” or “one medical article in general.”
So Un article médical est intéressant makes a general statement, whereas L’article médical est intéressant points to a specific one.

How do you pronounce L’article médical est intéressant? Are there liaisons?

A clear pronunciation in IPA:
/aʁ.ti.kl‿me.di.kal‿ɛ.t‿ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.sɑ̃/
Liaisons:
• Between article and médical, you pronounce the final -l of article before the vowel m: /ʁ.ti.kl‿me/
• Between médical and est, you pronounce the final -l of médical as a liaison consonant /l/ before est: /di.kal‿ɛ/
• Between est and intéressant, you pronounce t of est before the vowel i of intéressant: /ɛ.t‿ɛ̃/
Be careful not to force liaisons in casual speech, but these are the standard links.

What do the accents on é in médical and intéressant tell me about pronunciation?

The acute accent é signals the closed /e/ sound (like the English ay in “say”). Without it, an unaccented e might be pronounced /ə/ (schwa) or be silent. So:
• médical = /me.di.kal/
• intéressant = /ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.sɑ̃/
Always pronounce é as a clear /e/ vowel.