Difference between revisions of "Language/French/Grammar/Nouns-that-are-only-masculine-or-only-feminine-But-may-refer-to-both-men-and-women"
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==Other Chapters== | ==Other Chapters== | ||
{{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}} | {{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}} | ||
==Videos== | |||
===French Gender and Plural of Nouns - Lesson 1 - YouTube=== | |||
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnLcXDMqwSk</youtube> |
Revision as of 17:26, 22 February 2023
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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.
Examples of Masculine Nouns
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
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
- "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
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
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
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
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
- une personne" meaning "a person" is feminine.
- "personne" meaning 'nobody' is masculine:
Examples
- Personne n'est venu
Nobody came
- Cette personne est venue
That person came