" S'il te plaît, une pomme !"

[JenniferKs]

what is the difference between an and a in french?

[Sitesurf]

in English, "a" becomes "an" in front of a vowel.
In French, all nouns have genders so you have to respect genders: "pomme" is feminine, so "une pomme"; "livre" is masculine, so "un livre".

[ThinkNorth]

Is there any rule to what makes a noun a certain gender?

[Sitesurf]

The rule is to learn each noun with its gender...

[orrd]

There are some patterns that are usually true... such as nouns that end in "e" are usually (but not always) feminine. But mostly you just have to learn each one.

[maritaEDU]

Si (if) il (it) te (you) plait (please) > If it pleases you. Could anyone explain the grammar of the "te" comming before the "plait"?

[Sitesurf]

S' = si = if

IL = impersonal subject of verb "plaît" = it

TE = indirect object of verb "plaît" to be placed before the verb = (to) you

PLAÎT = verb "plaire", construction with preposition "à": "plaire à" - conjugation agreeing with subject in 3rd person singular = please (construction with direct object, no preposition needed)

[u83rmensch]

I put "s'il tu plaît une pomme" what did i do wrong? was it the lack of capitalization or punctuation?

[Sitesurf]

"tu" is used only as a subject. In this sentence, "you" it is an object (direct or indirect), you have to use "te", for the subject of the verb is "il".

[M_brezzell01]

pomme and pain sound alike this is why i keep losing my hearts

[bambina959]

When is it appropriate to use s'il TE plait vs s'il VOUS plait?

[Sitesurf]

TU is used between people who know each other well and VOUS for a collective group or for a person you don't know well (your doctor, a policeman, a waiter...)