Language/French/Grammar/Nouns-which-have-the-same-spoken-form-but-two-different-written-forms

Nouns which have the same spoken form but two different written forms, with different genders and different meanings

Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Unfortunately there are no simple rules which non-native speakers can use to predict with complete accuracy the gender of a given noun. However, there are some patterns, either in the form or meaning of nouns, which can normally be used to predict the correct gender with greater than chance accuracy. The reader should remember, however, that these patterns are not comprehensive, and that there are exceptions.

There are some words which, in spoken French, are pronounced in the same way but which have different meanings and different genders:

French	English
un cal	a callus
un faîte	a summit
le foie	the liver
le maire	the mayor
un pet	a fart
le poids	weight
un rai	a ray of light
le sel	salt
le sol	earth
un tic	a tic (nervous)
le vice	vice (crime)
une cale	a wedge
une fête	a party
la foi	the faith
la mer	the sea
la paie	the pay
la poix	pitch
une raie	a parting (in hair) or a skate (fish)
une selle	a saddle
une sole	a sole (fish)
une tique	a tick (insect)
une vis	a screw
une mère	a mother
la paix	peace
un pois	a pea