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.
-cun franc (a franc), un lac (a lake), le public (the public), etc.-dle bord (the edge), le fond (the bottom), le pied (the foot), etc.-gun camping (a camp site), un parking (a car park), un shampooing (a shampoo), etc.-lun détail (a detail), le travail (work), le soleil (the sun), etc.-rle fer (iron), l'hiver (winter), un couloir (a corridor), etc.-tle 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
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 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
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 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
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 |
| le marché | the market |
| un fossé | a ditch |
| le thé | tea |
- Exception: "une clé" (a key)
Ending in -eau
| 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
| 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
| French | Translation |
|---|---|
| un bijou | a jewel |
| un clou | a nail |
| un caillou | a pebble |
| un genou | a knee |
| le hibou | the owl |
Feminine
Ending in -e
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
But there are a large number of exceptions to this rule:
Ending in -isme
Nouns ending in -isme are masculine: le romantisme 'romanticism', le tourisme 'tourism', un idiotisme 'an idiom (linguistic)', etc.
Ending in -ède, -ege, -eme
| 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
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:
| 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).