Language/French/Grammar/Nouns-which-change-meaning-when-they-change-gender

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Nouns which change meaning when they change gender

Bonjour! French learners 😀

Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Unfortunately, there is no easy rules for predicting the gender of a noun.

Here is a list of French nouns that have different meanings when they are masculine and when they are feminine.

Please write a comment below if you know of other similar nouns! 👌

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Conjugation group 1 — verbs whose infinitive ends in —er & Pronominal verbs used reciprocally.

Examples[edit | edit source]

French English French English
un aide a helper l'aide (f) help
un chèvre a goat's cheese une chèvre a goat
un crème a white coffee la crème cream
le crêpe crêpe (cloth) une crêpe a pancake
un espace a space une espace a space (in printing)
un critique a critic une critique a criticism
un laque artwork une laque a hair lacquer or gloss paint
un manche a handle une manche a sleeve
un livre a book une livre a pound (money or weight)
un manoeuvre an unskilled worker une manoeuvre a manoeuvre
un mémoire a dissertation la mémoire memory (faculty of)
un mode a way of. . . La Manche the English Channel
un merci a thank you la merci mercy
(un mode de vie) (a way of life) une mode a fashion
un moule a mould une moule a mussel
le physique appearance la physique physics
un pendule a pendulum une pendule a clock
un poste a job, TV or radio set la poste the Post Office
un poêle a stove une poêle a frying pan
un somme a nap une somme a sum (of money)
le solde balance (in an account) la solde pay (usually with reference to soldier's pay)
un tour a turn, trick une tour a tower
le Tour de France bicycle race La Tour Eiffel The Eiffel tower
un vase a vase la vase mud
un voile a veil une voile a sail

chose[edit | edit source]

The noun "chose" is normally feminine when it means 'thing': la/une chose. But the expressions quelque chose 'something', autre chose 'something else', peu de chose 'nothing much', pas grand-chose 'not a great deal' are masculine:

The noun "chose" is feminine when it means "thing": "la/une chose".

But the following expressions:

  • "quelque chose" (something),
  • "autre chose" (something else),
  • "peu de chose", (nothing much),
  • "pas grand-chose", (not a great deal)

are masculine:

  • Quelque chose est arrivé

Something happened

versus

  • Cette chose est arrivée

This thing happened

gens[edit | edit source]

Gens 'people' requires immediately preceding adjectives or quantifiers to be feminine, but following adjectives/participles or preceding adjectives/quantifiers separated from gens to be masculine:

  • Ces vieilles gens sont heureux

Those old people are happy

  • certaines gens

some people

  • tous les gens

everyone

  • Rassurés, les gens qui manifestaient se sont dispersés

Having been reassured, those demonstrating dispersed

amour[edit | edit source]

amour 'love' is normally masculine singular. It is sometimes, however, feminine plural: les amours. When feminine plural it can mean 'amorous adventures' or it can be a more poetic way of referring to love.

Gender of Nouns (all lessons)[edit source]

Other Chapters[edit | edit source]

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

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