FRENCH 18LEH103J - LE GENRE DES NOMS (CONTENT CREATED BY DR. WALTER HUGH PARKER)
Gender of nouns in
french (Le masculin et féminin des noms en français)
All French nouns are either masculine
or feminine. The gender of a noun is often indicated by the article before it
(article défini or indéfini – le, la, un, une), and sometimes by its spelling.
Generally to make a noun feminine, add ‘e’ at its end:
Ex. Un ami (a male
friend) – une amie (a female friend)
For nouns which already have an ‘e’ at the
end, the spelling does not change for feminine.
Ex. Un élève (a
male student) – une élève (a female student)
These are some general rules to turn
masculine nouns into feminine nouns and vice-versa:
|
Nouns endings |
Gender examples |
Meaning |
||
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Masculine |
Feminine |
|
|
-oux |
-ouse |
Un
époux |
Uneépouse |
spouse |
|
-eur |
-euse |
Un
danseur |
Une
danseuse |
dancer |
|
-teur |
-trice |
Un
acteur |
Uneactrice |
actor |
|
-er |
-ère |
Un
infirmier |
Uneinfirmière |
nurse |
|
-ien |
-ienne |
Un
gardien |
Unegardienne |
guard |
|
-eau |
-elle |
Un
jumeau |
Unejumelle |
twin |
The following are less
common noun endings:
Un
homme – man Une Femme – woman,
wife
Un
fils – son Une fille –
girl, daughter
Un
héros – hero Une héroïne –
heroine
Un
hôte – host Une hôtesse –
hostess
You can often guess the gender of a noun by its
ending:
Masculine endings:
-acle, -age, -eau, -eme, -isme, -ment, -ier, -ien
Feminin endings:
-aison, -nce, -nse, -ee, -ion, -ude, -ure, -elle, -ille
1.
In
general nouns ending in ‘e’ are feminine.
Ex:–
école (school), gomme (eraser),
chaise (chair), fille (girl), ponme (apple), porte (door), cravate (tie), trousse
(duster), règle (ruler), voiture (car)
Exceptions –homme
(man), livre (book)
2.
Nouns
ending in ‘age’ and ‘ege’ are masculine.
Ex;–
village, fromage
(cheese), collège, piège (trap)
Exceptions
– cage, page, plage, image, rage, nage –
these nouns are
feminine.
3. Nouns ending
in ‘eau’, ‘ou’
and ‘eu’ are masculine.
Ex;– tableau (blackboard), gâteau
(cake), chapeau(hat,
cap), chou (cabbage), trou (hole), cheveu (hair), pneu (tyre), jeu (game)
Exceptions
– eau (water), peau (skin) – these
are feminine.
4.
Nouns
ending in ‘ble’, ‘ent’ and ‘ant’ are masculine.
Ex;– cartable (school bag) , miracle,appartement (apartment), apprenant (learner)
Exceptions
; table, jument (mare)
– feminine
5.
Nouns
ending in pronounced vowels are masculine.
Ex;– café (coffee), thé (tea), musée
(museum), clé (key)
6.
Nouns
ending in ‘tion’, ‘sion’,
‘aison’ and‘té' are feminine.
Ex:– attention, passion, maison (house), activité
(activity), santé (health)
7.
Nouns
ending in ‘o’, ‘on’, and in’are
masculine.
Exs :–Vélo (bike, cycle), stylo (pen), zéro(zero),
crayon (pencil), taille-crayon (sharpener), salon(parlour), poisson (fish),
garcon (boy), avion
(aeroplane),jardin (garden), pain (bread), chemin (pathway), vin
(wine)
Exceptions: météo
(weather), radio, moto (motorbike) are feminine
8.
Nouns ending in
‘er' ‘ier’, eur’, and ‘aire' are masculine.
Exs. cahier (notebook), fermier (farmer), boulanger (baker), boucher (butcher), ascenseur (lift), travailleur(worker),moteur
(engine, motor), anniversaire
(birthday)
Exception: fleur (flower)
is feminine
9.
Nouns
ending in ‘al’, ‘ail’, ‘eil’, ‘oir’, ‘et' and ‘at’ are masculine.
Exs:– journal
(newspaper), cheval(horse), travail
(work), bétail(cattle)miroir
(mirror),soir (evening), accueil
(welcome), plat (dish), climat
(climate), carnet (ticket book), cabinet (cabinet), verset (verse).
10. Nouns ending in c and s are masculine.
Exs. Lac (lake), sac (bag), tabac
(tobacco), public (public), trafic (traffic), porc (pork), parc (park), échec
(failure), bec(beak), autobus (bus), jus (juice), succés (success), accès
(access), progrès (progress), fils (son), temps (time, weather), cas(case). Exceptions : fois (time), vis (screw), souris
(mouse) are feminine
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