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Ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant que cette entreprise ne fasse la une des journaux.

I just said this sentence in conversation. While I’m more than familiar with using this expression as a set phrase, the « la une » part has always eluded me on more than one level.

What does it refer to, exactly? Why use « la une » instead of « l'une »? The fact that « journal/journaux » is a masculin noun makes the matter all the more puzzling.

Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
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  • @Toto Hi. Actually, I noticed this post myself, but it doesn't cover everything I'm hoping to figure out here. – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Nov 19 '16 at 11:26
  • Why use "la une" instead of "l'une"? is a duplicate (the answer is here). That journaux is masculine might add to existing confusion, but is just one among many "X de Y" french things where X is feminine and Y is masculine or vice versa (belle de jour, fleur d'oranger, preuve d'amour --- changement d'adresse, édit de loi). It seems to me you can simplify your question into "what does it mean ?" to avoid closure. – Nikana Reklawyks Nov 23 '16 at 20:03

2 Answers2

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"La une" means "the front page" or "the headlines".

It's simply short for "la page une" (page one), that's why it's feminine and we kept la instead of l'.

I also found interesting information in the answer for the possible duplicate, especially why "le un" and "l'un" can both be used, but for different things. Essentially we say "le un" when referring to the number, as opposed to the article.

Moreover it is very common when numbers are associated with things (like pages, channels, or in a contest where contestant have numbers, etc.) to refer to those things directly by the number.

You're also note that "channel one" is "la une", for the same reason.

jlliagre
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Teleporting Goat
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"La une" is the headline in English. So the idiom "Faire la une" is simply "Make the headlines" in English.

It's not a matters of gender of "Journal", since in this context "une" is used as a noun and not an adjective. "La une" is an idiom, It refers to the fact that important news is on the front page on newspapers, on the first page, the one, "la une".

That's just it.

Gregoire D.
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