Le micro ne fonctionne pas ce soir.

not

Breakdown of Le micro ne fonctionne pas ce soir.

• fonctionner: to function
• ce soir: tonight
• le micro: the microphone

Questions & Answers about Le micro ne fonctionne pas ce soir.

Why is it le micro and not un micro?

Le micro uses the definite article le, which usually means we are talking about a specific, known microphone (for example, the one in the room, the one for the show, etc.).

• Le micro ne fonctionne pas ce soir.
  → The microphone (the one we’re expecting to use) isn’t working tonight.

If you said un micro, it would sound like “a (random) microphone,” not one that is already identified in the situation:

• Un micro ne fonctionne pas ce soir.
  → Could suggest “One (of the) microphones isn’t working tonight.”

So le is used because speaker and listener both know which microphone they mean.

---

Is micro always masculine? How do I know the gender?

Yes, micro is masculine: le micro, un micro, ce micro, mon micro.

It’s actually a shortened form of microphone, which is also masculine (le microphone). In French, abbreviations usually keep the gender of the full word.

Unfortunately, there is no simple rule that lets you guess the gender of every noun. In practice:

• Check a dictionary.
• Learn the noun together with its article: le micro, not just micro.

---

Why is the negation split into ne ... fonctionne pas?