Language/French/Grammar/Gender-of-the-noun-indicated-by-its-final-letter
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.
Masculine
Nouns ending with a consonant
Rule
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.)
- -1 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
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, -aison, -(s)sion, -Hon or -xion
Rule
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
But nouns ending in -aison, -(s)sion, -Hon or -xion are most of the time feminine:
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| une comparaison | a comparison |
| une liaison | a liaison |
| une maison | a house |
| une raison | a reason |
| une saison | a season |
| une décision | a decision |
| la tension | tension, blood pressure |
| une vision | a vision |
| une émission | a broadcast |
| une connexion | a connection |
- Exception: "un bastion" (a bastion).
Nouns ending in -eur
Rule
Nouns ending in -eur are usually masculine (un ordinateur 'a computer', le bonheur 'happiness', etc.).
Exceptions
However, the following frequently-used nouns are feminine:
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| la chaleur | the heat |
| une couleur | a colour |
| une erreur | a mistake |
| une fleur | a flower |
| la largeur | the width |
| la longueur | the length |
| la peur | fear |
| la profondeur | the depth |
Nouns ending with a vowel
Rule
Many nouns whose singular written form ends in a vowel (but excluding –e without an acute accent) are masculine.
Exceptions
However, there are a significant number of exceptions:
ending in -i
| 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
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| le café | the café or coffee |
| un fossé | a ditch |
| le marché | the market |
| le thé | tea |
- Exception: "une clé" (a key)
-eau
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| un couteau | a knife |
| un marteau | a hammer |
| le niveau | the level |
| le réseau | the network |
| un tableau | a picture |
- Exceptions: l'eau water, la peau skin
-i
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| l'abri | shelter |
| un cri | a shout |
| un pari | a bet |
| un pli | a fold |
| un raccourci | a short-cut |
-ou
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| un bijou | a jewel |
| un caillou | a pebble |
| un clou | a nail |
| un genou | a knee |
| le hibou | the owl |
Feminine
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.
But there are a large number of exceptions to this rule:
-isme
Nouns ending in -isme are masculine: le romantisme 'romanticism', le tourisme 'tourism', un idiotisme 'an idiom (linguistic)', etc.
-ède, -ege, -eme
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| un intermède | an interlude |
| un cortège | a procession |
| un piège | a trap |
| 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.
-age
Nouns ending in -age are usually masculine, but there are some notable exceptions:
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| le courage | courage |
| un garage | a garage |
| un message | a message |
| un stage | a work placement |
| 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:
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| un grade | a rank |
| un stade | a stadium |
| un groupe | a group |
| le monde | the world |
| le capitaine | the captain |
| le domaine | the area |
| le silence | silence |
| un musée | a museum |
| 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 |
| un magazine | a magazine |
| le platine | platinum |
| un pare-brise | a windscreen |
| un intervalle | an interval |
| le rebelle | the rebel |
| le chèvrefeuille | honeysuckle |
| un chêne | an oak tree |
| un hêtre | a beech tree |
| un gorille | a gorilla |
| un portefeuille | a wallet |
| 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).