Language/French/Grammar/Nouns

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Bonjour à tous les membres de la communauté Polyglot Club, 🇫🇷

A noun is a word representing a person, a place, or a thing. In French, all nouns have a gender - masculine or feminine. In this lesson, we will explain how to form the masculine, feminine, and plural of nouns. After mastering this lesson, you can also explore other related topics such as the definite article usage with names of countries, regions, and départements, the difference between subjunctive and indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective, and French punctuation rules.

Masculine

Feminine

un ami (a friend)

une amie (a friend)

un acteur (an actor)

une actrice (an actress)

un musicien (a musician)

une musicienne (a musician)

un boulanger (a baker)

une boulangère (a baker)

le détective (the detective)

la détective (the detective)

le professeur (the professor)

la professeur (the professor)

In French, the masculine and feminine nouns differ, and different articles and adjectives are also used. Countries ending in "-e" are feminine (except "le Mexique"): - le Portugal, le Brésil... - la France, l'Espagne, l'Argentine...

The feminine is generally formed by adding -e to the male, and in some cases, other letters or accents are added. Sometimes, there are different nouns for male and female forms. Some professions are used only in men.

Bonne chance et amusez-vous en apprenant le français ! 📚🇫🇷

Examples=[edit | edit source]

Noun singular and plural[edit | edit source]

un livre (a book) des livres (books)

The plural is generally formed by adding -s to the singular.

Some nouns have special plural, according to the termination: -eau becomes -eaux -al becomes -aux -s remains the same -s -z remains the same -z

Some nouns have no singular form

Examples[edit | edit source]

Singular

Plural

le château (castle)

les châteaux (castles)

le cheval (horse)

les chevaux (horses)

le bus (the bus)

les bus (buses)

le nez (nose)

les nez (noses)

le chien (the dog) Les chiens (dogs)

Adjectives and nouns:Table of the masculine and feminine endings:[edit | edit source]

Adjectives Masculine + E = Feminine Il est étudiant

(He is a student)

Elle est étudiante

(She is a student)

Il est grand

(He is tall)

Elle est grande

(She is tall)

Le ciel est bleu

(The sky is blue)

La mer est bleue

(The sea is blue)

Adjectives -EN becomes -ENNE Il est italien

(He is italian)

Elle est italienne

(She is italian)

Il est parisien

(He is parisian)

Elle est parisienne

(She is parisian)

Il est canadien

(He is canadian)

Elle est canadienne

(She is canadian)

Il est européen

(He is european)

Elle est européenne

(She is european)

Adjectives -ON becomes -ONNE Il est bon en sport

(He is good at sport)

Elle est bonne en sport

(He is good at sport)

Adjectives -ER- ÈRE Il est boulanger

(He is a baker)

Elle est boulangère

(She is a baker)

Il est boucher

(He is a butcher)

Elle est bouchère

(She is a butcher)

Il est policier

(He is a policeman)

Elle est policière

(She is a police officer)

Adjectives -EUR and -EUX become -EUSE Il est heureux

(He is happy)

Elle est heureuse

(She is happy)

Il est furieux

(He is furious)

Elle est furieuse

(She is furious)

Il est danseur

(He is a dancer)

Elle est danseuse

(She is a dancer)

Adjectives -TEUR becomes -TRICE Il est acteur

(He is an actor)

Elle est actrice

(She is an actress)

Il est instituteur

(He is primary school teacher)

Elle est institutrice

(She is primary school teacher)

Il est traducteur

(He is a translator)

Elle est traductrice

(She is a translator)

Il est directeur (He is a director) Elle est directrice (She is a director)
Irregular Adjectives Beau (Beautiful) Belle
Vieux (Old) Vieille
Blanc (White) Blanche
Gentil (Kind/Nice) Gentille
Adjectives and nouns which never change Adjectives Nouns
Jeune (Young); Calme (Quiet); Drôle (Funny); Stupide (Stupid); Bizarre/Étrange (Strange); Sage (Wise); Triste (Sad) Un(e) journaliste (A journalist); Un(e) peintre (A painter); Un(e) ministre (A minister); Un(e) maire (A mayor); Un(e) pompier (A fireman); Un(e) juge (A judge); Un(e) sage-femme (A midwife); Un(e) militaire (A serviceman/servicewoman); Un(e) gendarme (A gendarme = police officer [other branch of the french police and army]); Un(e) médecin (General practitioner GP); Un(e) dentiste (A dentist); Un(e) psychologue (A psychologist); Un(e) gynécologue (A gynaecologist); Un(e) scientifique (A scientist); Un(e) astronaute (An astronaut); Un(e) archéologue (An archaeologist) ................

Nouns that end up in "oir"[edit | edit source]

  • The mascunlin nouns finished by the sound "oir" is written "oir"

Exemple : un couloir (hallway), un rasoir (razor),...

Exception : un accessoire (accessory), un auditoire (audience), de l'ivoire (ivory), un conservatoire (conservatory), un laboratoire (laboratory), un observatoire (observatory), un réfectoire (refectory), un répertoire (repertory), un territoire (land).

  • All the nouns finished by the sound "oir" is written "oire"

Exemple : une histoire, une victoire,...

Nouns that end up in "sion"[edit | edit source]

  • After "a", "i", "o" and "u", we write "tion"

Exemple : La nation (nation), une addition (addition), l'émotion (emotion), une résolution (resolution)

Exception : la discussion (debate), l'émission (show), la mission (mission), la passion (passion)

  • After "e", we write "ession"

Exemple : la pression (pressure)

Exception: la discrétion (discreet)

  • After a consonate, we write "sion" or "tion", you must consult the dictionary.

Exemple : la pension (board), une direction (direction)

Videos[edit | edit source]

French Nouns 1 - What are nouns? - YouTube[edit | edit source]

FRENCH GRAMMAR - DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS - YouTube[edit | edit source]

French Gender and Plural of Nouns - Lesson 1 - YouTube[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

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