Language/French/Grammar/Nouns-that-are-only-masculine-or-only-feminine-But-may-refer-to-both-men-and-women
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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.
Some nouns that have only one gender refer to jobs or professions for both men and women.
Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Quand utiliser "et" ou "est" ? & Quand utiliser et ou est ?.
Examples of Masculine Nouns[edit | edit source]
The following nouns are all masculine:
French Masculine Noun | Translation |
---|---|
un architecte | an architect |
un chef | a chef |
un auteur | an author |
un compositeur | a composer |
un ingénieur | an engineer |
un forçat | a convict |
un magistrat | a magistrate |
un juge | a judge |
un médecin | a doctor |
un peintre | a painter |
un sculpteur | a sculptor |
un professeur | a teacher |
un témoin | a witness |
un vampire | a vampire |
"femme" can be added[edit | edit source]
When these nouns refer to women, to clarify that the profession concerns a woman and not a man, the word "femme" can be added before or after the noun.
Examples[edit | edit source]
- "un ingénieur femme" & "une femme ingénieur"
- "un médecin femme" & "une femme médecin"
Pay attention to the use of the masculine article "un" in the first case and the feminine article "une" in the second case.
- NB: Nowadays the term "une femme ingénieure" and "une femme médecine" are preferred.
Use the context do determine the sex[edit | edit source]
More often, the context makes it possible to determine the sex of the person:
- Elle est médecin dans une clinique à Paris
She is a doctor in a clinic in Paris
Some titles are only masculine[edit | edit source]
Some titles are only masculine, i.e. le Maire 'the Mayor', le Juge 'the Judge', le Notaire 'the Solicitor', etc. A woman playing this role will be called Madame le Maire, Madame le Juge, etc.
Note[edit | edit source]
This is an area that has generated a lot of controversy. While a few years ago the above list contained writer and lawyer as exclusively masculine terms, nowadays "écrivaine" and "avocate" are preferred.
It is also preferable to use "Madame la maire" or "Madame la mairesse" because the fact of feminizing the language has become a positive development in French society.
- Read more about Feminization of titles and functions in THIS article.
Nouns only feminine in gender[edit | edit source]
There are a small number of nouns which are only feminine in gender, but which may refer both to men and women:
- personne : person.
- recrue : recruit
- sentinelle : sentry
- star/vedette : star (in the entertainment business)
- victime : victim
Personne[edit | edit source]
- une personne" meaning "a person" is feminine.
- "personne" meaning 'nobody' is masculine:
Examples[edit | edit source]
- Personne n'est venu
Nobody came
- Cette personne est venue
That person came
Gender of Nouns (all lessons)[edit source]
Other Chapters[edit | edit source]
Videos[edit | edit source]
French Gender and Plural of Nouns - Lesson 1 - YouTube[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Differences in the use of numbers in French and English Order of cardinal numbers and adjectives
- When use ou or où
- Verb agreement with fractions
- Indirectly transitive in French but directly transitive in English
- Confusions English and French direct object
- “être” and “avoir” with verbs used intransitively and transitively
- y and en in French where the English translation has no preposition
- Plurals
- Adverb—adjective compounds
- Plural forms of adjectives — Adjectives which end in eau
- Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective
- Restrictions on possible combinations
- Object pronouns in coordinated clauses
- Double object constructions with no preposition
- How to use Be