Difference between revisions of "Language/French/Grammar/How-to-Guess-the-Gender-of-French-Nouns"
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<div style="font-size:300%;"> How to Guess the Gender of French Nouns</div> | <div style="font-size:300%;"> How to Guess the Gender of French Nouns</div> | ||
French genders are important: You can’t master French if you don't know French genders. | |||
You often ask yourself as a French learner: "'''Which nouns are feminine or masculine?'''". | |||
😅 '''Good news!''' Luckily, the use of French genders is pretty simple, even if your language doesn’t use genders for nouns. Gender of nouns do not have to be learnt by heart. Some rules allow you to guess the gender of the majority of nouns in French. | |||
==What does gender influence?== | |||
Firstly, you need to know that the gender has an influence on: | Firstly, you need to know that the gender has an influence on: | ||
# The '''article''' used before a noun | |||
# '''Pronouns''' | |||
# The ending of '''adjectives''' | |||
# The ending of '''verbs''' | |||
==Articles== | ===Articles=== | ||
In French, you have a masculine article ("le") and a feminine article ("la") : | In French, you have a masculine article ("le") and a feminine article ("la") : | ||
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*Du pain = Some bread | *Du pain = Some bread | ||
==Pronouns== | ===Pronouns=== | ||
Pronouns change depending on the subject’s gender. | Pronouns change depending on the subject’s gender. | ||
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*Ils (masculine subject) = They | *Ils (masculine subject) = They | ||
==Adjectives== | ===Adjectives=== | ||
French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify. | French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify. | ||
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There are exceptions, but if you know these patterns, you’ll know how most adjectives change based on the gender of the noun. | There are exceptions, but if you know these patterns, you’ll know how most adjectives change based on the gender of the noun. | ||
==Verbs== | ===Verbs=== | ||
The "passé composé" tense is the best example of the influence of genders on conjugation. | The "passé composé" tense is the best example of the influence of genders on conjugation. | ||
*Je suis allé (I am a boy) | *Je suis allé (I am a boy) | ||
*Je suis allée (I am a girl) | *Je suis allée (I am a girl) | ||
*Il est allé | *Il est allé | ||
*Elle est allée | *Elle est allée | ||
*Nous sommes allés (There are boys in our group) | *Nous sommes allés (There are boys in our group) | ||
*Nous sommes allées (We are only girls) | *Nous sommes allées (We are only girls) | ||
*Ils sont allés | *Ils sont allés | ||
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==Associate each gender with an image== | ==Associate each gender with an image== | ||
It can be smart to associate each gender with an | It can be smart to associate each gender with an image in your brain. | ||
The association needs to be personal, this must be something you will easily remember. For example, If you love colors, you could imagine each word with a different color depending on its gender. | The association needs to be personal, this must be something you will easily remember. For example, If you love colors, you could imagine each word with a different color depending on its gender. | ||
==Guess the gender based on | ==Guess the gender based on endings== | ||
Very often, a noun’s ending indicates its gender in the majority of cases. | Very often, a noun’s ending indicates its gender in the majority of cases. | ||
Revision as of 23:45, 14 November 2021
French genders are important: You can’t master French if you don't know French genders.
You often ask yourself as a French learner: "Which nouns are feminine or masculine?".
😅 Good news! Luckily, the use of French genders is pretty simple, even if your language doesn’t use genders for nouns. Gender of nouns do not have to be learnt by heart. Some rules allow you to guess the gender of the majority of nouns in French.
What does gender influence?
Firstly, you need to know that the gender has an influence on:
- The article used before a noun
- Pronouns
- The ending of adjectives
- The ending of verbs
Articles
In French, you have a masculine article ("le") and a feminine article ("la") :
- La voiture = The car
- Le chien = The dog
Similarly, you have a masculine "un" and a feminine "une".
- Une maison = A house
- Un avion = A plane
You also need to make the difference between “du” (masculine) and “de la” (feminine) :
- De la farine = Some flour
- Du pain = Some bread
Pronouns
Pronouns change depending on the subject’s gender.
- Il = He
- Elle = She
They are two ways to say “they”.
- Elles (feminine subject) = They
- Ils (masculine subject) = They
Adjectives
French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify.
Here are several adjectives as examples:
Grand (tall)
- Masculine singular: grand
- Feminine singular: grande
- Masculine plural: grands
- Feminine plural: grandes
There are exceptions, but if you know these patterns, you’ll know how most adjectives change based on the gender of the noun.
Verbs
The "passé composé" tense is the best example of the influence of genders on conjugation.
- Je suis allé (I am a boy)
- Je suis allée (I am a girl)
- Il est allé
- Elle est allée
- Nous sommes allés (There are boys in our group)
- Nous sommes allées (We are only girls)
- Ils sont allés
- Elles sont allées
Associate each gender with an image
It can be smart to associate each gender with an image in your brain.
The association needs to be personal, this must be something you will easily remember. For example, If you love colors, you could imagine each word with a different color depending on its gender.
Guess the gender based on endings
Very often, a noun’s ending indicates its gender in the majority of cases.
Write these endings in your notebook, don't learn them by heart as it would be boring.
After a while, you will see that you can easily guess the gender of a noun.
Complete list
Majority of masculine noun endings
- -an, -and, -ant, -ent, -in, -int, -om, -ond, -ont, -on (but not after s/c¸)
- -eau, -au, -aud, -aut, -o, -os, -ot
- -ai, -ais, -ait, -es, -et
- -ou, -out, -out, -oux
- -i, -il, -it, -is, -y
- -at, -as, -ois, -oit
- -u, -us, -ut, -eu
- -er, -é after C (C=t)
- -age, -ege, – ème, -ome, -aume, -isme
- -as, -is, -os, -us, -ex
- -it, -est
- -al, -el, -il, -ol, -eul, -all
- -if, -ef
- -ac, -ic, -oc, -uc
- -am, -um, -en
- -air, -er, -erf, -ert, -ar, -arc, -ars, -art, -our, -ours, -or, -ord, -ors, -ort, -ir, -oir, -eur
- (if animate)
- -ail, -eil, -euil, -ueil
- -ing
Majority of feminine noun endings
- -aie, -oue, -eue, -ion, -te, – ée, -ie, -ue
- -asse, -ace, -esse, -ece, -aisse, -isse/-ice, -ousse, -ance, -anse, -ence, -once
- -enne, -onne, -une, -ine, -aine, -eine, -erne
- -ande, -ende, -onde, -ade, -ude, -arde, -orde
- -euse, -ouse, -ase, -aise, -ese, -oise, -ise, -yse, -ose, -use
- -ache, -iche, -eche, -oche, -uche, -ouche, -anche
- -ave, -eve, -ive
- -iere, -ure, -eure
- -ette, -ete, – ête, -atte, -otte, -oute, -orte, -ante, -ente, -inte, -onte
- -alle, -elle, -ille, -olle
- -aille, -eille, -ouille
- -appe, -ampe, -ombe
- -igue
Simplified list
- Feminine noun endings: The majority of words that end in "e" or "ion" except words ending in "age", "ege", "é", or "isme"
- Masculine noun endings: Most words with other endings are masculine.
VIDEOS
What about you? How do you guess the gender of new nouns? Please share your comments or directely edit this article!