What is the difference between le and l' in french?

Answer 1

'le' and 'la' are the two French words which correspond to the English word 'the'.

'le stylo' :: 'the pen' (usually, but not always, a biro)

'la plume' :: 'the pen' (usually, but not always, a fountain-pen)

French needs two words for 'the' because its nouns all have grammatical gender (a feature which is absent in English).

le stylo, le soleil, le violon :: the pen, the sun, the violin

but

la plume, la lune, la guimbarde :: the pen, the moon, the jawharp

When 'le' or 'la' precede a word that begins with a vowel, they shorten to 'l'

''l'alouette' 'the lark' (NOT la alouette); 'l'opposite' 'the opposite' (NOT le opposite).

So there is really no difference between 'l' and 'le' in French. 'Le' becomes 'l' when the next letter is a vowel.

Answer 2

In French, "le" is used before masculine singular nouns, while "l'" is a contracted form of "le" or "la" used before a noun starting with a vowel or silent 'h'. Both "le" and "l'" mean "the" in English.