Language/French/Grammar/Gender-of-the-noun-indicated-by-its-final-letter
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Bonjour! French learners 😀
Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Unfortunately, there is no easy rules for predicting the gender of a noun. However, it is not necessary to learn all genders by heart as there are certain models that can be used to predict the genre with varying degrees of accuracy. Be careful to remember that there are always exceptions to these models.
In today's lesson, we will study noun genders signalled by the final letters.
With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Compound nouns & Adjectives.
MASCULINE NOUNS[edit | edit source]
Nouns ending with a consonant[edit | edit source]
Rule[edit | edit source]
Many nouns that end in a consonant in the singular are masculine.
-c
un franc (a franc), un lac (a lake), le public (the public), etc.-d
le bord (the edge), le fond (the bottom), le pied (the foot), etc.-g
un camping (a camp site), un parking (a car park), un shampooing (a shampoo), etc.-l
un détail (a detail), le travail (work), le soleil (the sun), etc.-r
le fer (iron), l'hiver (winter), un couloir (a corridor), etc.-t
le chocolat (chocolate), le climat (the climate), un jouet (a toy), un poulet (a chicken), le ciment (cement), un jugement (a judgement), etc.
Exceptions[edit | edit source]
Exceptions are usually found with names ending in -n
, -r
, -s
, -t
, & -x
French | Translation |
---|---|
une maison | a house |
une cuiller | a spoon |
la mer | the sea |
une tour | a tower |
une fois | one time |
une dent | a tooth |
une nuit | a night |
une jument | a mare |
une croix | a cross |
Nouns ending in -on
[edit | edit source]
Rule[edit | edit source]
Nouns ending in -on
are most of the time masculine "un poisson" (a fish), "un sillon" (a furrow), and so on... Although "une chanson" (a song) is an exception.
Exceptions[edit | edit source]
But nouns ending in -aison
, -(s)sion
, -hon
or -xion
are most of the time feminine:
French | Translation |
---|---|
une comparaison | a comparison |
une saison | a season |
une liaison | a liaison |
une maison | a house |
une raison | a reason |
une décision | a decision |
une émission | a broadcast |
la tension | tension, blood pressure |
une vision | a vision |
une connexion | a connection |
- Exception: "un bastion" (a bastion).
Nouns ending in -eur
[edit | edit source]
Rule[edit | edit source]
Nouns ending in -eur
are usually masculine: un ordinateur (a computer), le bonheur (happiness), etc.
Exceptions[edit | edit source]
However, the following frequently-used nouns are feminine:
French | Translation |
---|---|
la chaleur | the heat |
une fleur | a flower |
une couleur | a colour |
une erreur | a mistake |
la largeur | the width |
la profondeur | the depth |
la longueur | the length |
la peur | fear |
Nouns ending with a vowel[edit | edit source]
Rule[edit | edit source]
Many nouns whose singular written form ends in a vowel (but excluding –e
without an acute accent) are masculine.
Exceptions[edit | edit source]
However, there are a significant number of exceptions:
ending in -i
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
un délai | a time limit |
un essai | an attempt (a 'try' in rugby) |
un emploi | a job |
un roi | a king |
- Exceptions: "la foi" (faith), "une loi" a law, "une paroi" a wall
ending in -é
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
le café | the café or coffee |
le marché | the market |
un fossé | a ditch |
le thé | tea |
- Exception: "une clé" (a key)
Ending in -eau
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
un couteau | a knife |
le réseau | the network |
un marteau | a hammer |
le niveau | the level |
un tableau | a picture |
- Exceptions: l'eau water, la peau skin
Ending in -i
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
l'abri | shelter |
un cri | a shout |
un pari | a bet |
un pli | a fold |
un raccourci | a short-cut |
Ending in -ou
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
un bijou | a jewel |
un clou | a nail |
un caillou | a pebble |
un genou | a knee |
le hibou | the owl |
FEMININE NOUNS[edit | edit source]
Ending in -e
[edit | edit source]
Many singular nouns ending in -e
without an acute accent are feminine:
- l'audace (daring), la façade (the front), the outside, une salade (a salad)
- une douzaine (a dozen), une fontaine (a fountain)
- une baie (a bay), la haie (the hedge)
- une ambulance (an ambulance), une flèche (an arrow)
- une araignée (a spider), une bougie (a candle), etc.
- une thèse (a thesis), une grève (a strike), etc.
Exceptions[edit | edit source]
But there are a large number of exceptions to this rule:
Ending in -isme
[edit | edit source]
Nouns ending in -isme are masculine: le romantisme 'romanticism', le tourisme 'tourism', un idiotisme 'an idiom (linguistic)', etc.
Ending in -ède, -ege, -eme
[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
un intermède | an interlude |
un piège | a trap |
un cortège | a procession |
un stratège | a strategist |
un poème | a poem |
le système | the system |
le thème | the theme or translation into a foreign language |
- la crème (cream) is an exception.
Ending in -age
[edit | edit source]
Nouns ending in -age are usually masculine, but there are some notable exceptions:
French | Translation |
---|---|
le courage | courage |
un stage | a work placement |
un garage | a garage |
un message | a message |
un voyage | a journey |
- Exceptions: une cage a cage, une image a picture, une page a page, une plage a beach, la rage rabies.
Other common exceptions:[edit | edit source]
French | Translation |
---|---|
un grade | a rank |
un stade | a stadium |
un groupe | a group |
le monde | the world |
le capitaine | the captain |
un musée | a museum |
le domaine | the area |
le silence | silence |
un lycée | a (sixth-form) college |
un trophée | a trophy |
un génie | a genius |
un incendie | a fire |
un cimetière | a cemetery |
le derrière | the backside |
le platine | platinum |
un magazine | a magazine |
un pare-brise | a windscreen |
un intervalle | an interval |
le rebelle | the rebel |
le chèvrefeuille | honeysuckle |
un chêne | an oak tree |
un gorille | a gorilla |
un portefeuille | a wallet |
un hêtre | a beech tree |
un carosse | a carriage |
un squelette | a skeleton |
un renne | a reindeer |
le mercure | mercury |
le murmure | a murmur |
un gramme | a gram |
un kilogramme | a kilogram |
un mètre | a metre |
un kilomètre | a kilometre |
un litre | a litre |
un parapluie | an umbrella |
NB: The majority of words with the prefix para- are masculine: un parachute (a parachute), un paratonnerre (a lightning conductor), le parapente (paragliding), un paravent (wind-shield, screen).
Video - How Can I Tell if a Noun is Masculine or Feminine?[edit | edit source]
Gender of Nouns (all lessons)[edit source]
Other Chapters[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Auxiliaries
- Adjectives preceded by de
- Compare numbers
- Indefinite article
- Verb agreement with fractions
- Pronominal verbs used reflexively
- Position of subject pronouns
- Adverbs ending in —ément derived from adjectives ending in —e
- Use of il, ce, cela and ça as impersonal pronouns
- Typical use of the indefinite article
- Nouns which exist only in plural form
- Measurements and comparisons in French — Numeral nouns and approximations
- y and en in French where the English translation has no preposition
- Plurals of nouns ending in eu, au, eau
- Present Tense