Gender of French nouns
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All French nouns have a gender. Every noun is defined as either masculine (French: masculin) or feminine (French: féminin). There are no neuter nouns.
Whenever you are using a noun, you need to know whether it is masculine or feminine as this affects the form of other words used with it, such as:
Especially when it comes to definite articles you have to consider that:
Please note that l' is used before masculine or feminine nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h.
ln English, we refer to things with "it". ln French, however, things are either masculine or feminine. Because of this, the gender usually is used arbitrary and must be memorized in the process of learning new vocabularies.
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1.) There are nouns which have a different meaning, according to the circumstance if they're used as a masculine or feminine.
masculine form | feminine form |
---|---|
le crêpe (textile) | la crêpe (pancake) |
le critique (critic) | la critique (criticism) |
le livre (book) | la livre (pound) |
le manche (stem) | la manche (sleeve) |
le mémoire (memoir) | la mémoire (memory) |
le mode (mode) | la mode (fashion) |
le mort (death man) | la mort (death) |
le poêle (stove) | la poêle (frying pan) |
le vase (vase) | la vase (mud) |
le tour (tour) | la tour (tower) |
2.) Nouns which end in -eur are masculine when they want to describe something concrete and female, when they want to describe something abstract.
3.) Certain characteristic endings indicate the gender of the noun:
masculine endings | Examples for masculine endings | feminine endings | Examples for feminine endings |
---|---|---|---|
-age | le garage un avantage (the garage, an advantage) | -ade | la salade la promenade (the salat, the walk) |
-al | le cheval le signal (the horse, the signal) | -ance -ence | la distance la différence (the distance, the difference) |
-eau | le château le bateau (the castle, the boat) | -ée | la journée une idée (the day, the idea) |
-ent | le document le talent (the document, the talent) | -elle | les nouvelles une échelle (the news, the ladder) |
-et | le billet le guichet (the ticket, the ticket counter) | -ette | la cigarette la bicyclette (the cigarette, the bicycle) |
-ier | le cahier le métier (exercise book, the job) | -ie | la maladie la librairie (the disease, the library) |
-isme | le tourisme le communisme (the tourism, the communism) | -ine | la cuisine la cantine (the kitchen, the canteen) |
-oir | le devoir le pouvoir (the homework, the power) | -ion | la télévision la distraction (the television, the distraction) |
Generally, we add an -e to a masculine noun in order to obtain the feminine.
But they are many exceptions as we already saw below in the lists.
the nouns ending in -er make their feminine en ère
Some nouns double the final consonant before the -e
Some nouns in -e make them feminine en -esse
The nouns ending in -eur turn into feminine:
eur | euse | trice | esse |
---|---|---|---|
vendeur | vendeuse | ||
moniteur | monitrice | ||
docteur | docteresse |
Nouns ending in -if make them feminine in -ive
Some nouns completely change in the feminine and some others are irregulars like the animals gender.
1.) The gender of persons and animals in French is always reduced to their natural gender.
2.) You recognize a female noun not only by looking at the article but also because of the ending
3.) Sometimes you can also add -é to the end of a masculine noun to form the feminine.
4.) It's also common to use periphrases.
5.) Some nouns have two genders, which are differentiated only by their articles.
6.) For some nouns there is only a masculine form, which applies to both sexes.
Masculine noun | Feminine noun | Translation |
---|---|---|
Un taureau | Une vache | (A cow) |
Un cheval | Une jument | (A horse) |
Un agneau | Une agnelle | (A lamb) |
Un loup | Une louve | (A wolf) |
Un canard | Une cane | (A duck) |
Un âne | Une ânesse | (A donkey) |
Un cerf | Une biche | (A deer) |
Un chameau | Une chamelle | (A camel) |
Un chien | Une chienne | (A dog) |
Un dindon | Une dinde | (A turkey) |
Un singe | Une guenon | (A monkey) |
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Degree in Teaching and in Geography and History, with certificate of French C1 by the Institut Français and by the Official School of Languages, I teach French and Spanish online since 2020.
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Mabuhay! Magandang Araw! Kumusta ka? I am Rey Corañes. I am a licensed professional teacher and I have 4 years of teaching experience in teaching Filipino/Tagalog language. I have a degree in education and my specialization is teaching Filipino. Let me help you set your goals and have amazing results. Do you want to speak the common Filipino phrases? Do you want to learn how to converse with the people in the community? Do you want to master the grammar and have conversational practices? No worries, I am here to help you learn it all. So what are you waiting for? Book a lesson with me.
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Bonjour! Veux-tu apprendre français? ou l'améliorer?
My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
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Hi,
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You will make a lot of progress!
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Bonjour! Veux-tu apprendre français? ou l'améliorer?
My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
À bientôt!
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Hello everyone!
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I am French living in Lisbon in Portugal. I have lived in different countries such as England, the United States and India. It gave me some experience of learning a foreign language and teaching it.
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I adapt to the needs of the students, whether to improve their oral, written, prepare for an exam or a job interview. I prioritize the conversation to allow the student to "unblock" and have fun speaking the language. I write down the vocabulary and grammar that the student lacks to express himself.
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Amazing teacher! Very helpful and listens well to the student's wishes. Would recommend her to everyone.
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Bonjour! Veux-tu apprendre français? ou l'améliorer?
My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
À bientôt!
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