Language/French/Grammar/Nouns-that-are-only-masculine-or-only-feminine-But-may-refer-to-both-men-and-women
Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Unfortunately there are no simple rules which non-native speakers can use to predict with complete accuracy the gender of a given noun. However, there are some patterns, either in the form or meaning of nouns, which can normally be used to predict the correct gender with greater than chance accuracy. The reader should remember, however, that these patterns are not comprehensive, and that there are exceptions.
Some nouns which have only one gender refer to jobs or professions undertaken both by men and women. The following are all masculine in gender:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un architecte | an architect |
| un auteur | an author |
| un chef | a chef |
| un compositeur | a composer |
| un forçat | a convict |
| un ingénieur | an engineer |
| un juge | a judge |
| un magistrat | a magistrate |
| un médecin | a doctor |
| un peintre | a painter |
| un professeur | a teacher |
| un sculpteur | a sculptor |
| un témoin | a witness |
| un vampire | a vampire |
When they refer to women, to make it explicit that the reference is to a woman and not a man, femme can be added either before or after the noun:
- une femme médecin / un médecin femme
- une femme ingénieur /un ingénieur femme
Alternatively, and more usually, the context can be allowed to determine the sex of the person referred to:
- Elle est médecin dans un grand hôpital à Montréal
She is a doctor in a large Montreal hospital
Some titles are also only masculine, for example le Maire 'the Mayor', le Juge 'the Judge', le Notaire 'the Solicitor', etc. A woman playing this role will be addressed as Madame le Maire, Madame le Juge, etc.
This is an area which has given rise to considerable controversy. Whereas a few years ago, the above list would have contained écrivain and avocat as masculine-only terms, it would seem that écrivaine and avocate may now be passing into current usage. Canadian French has adopted a number of similar feminine forms not adopted in France.
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 meaning 'person' is feminine: la/une personne. personne meaning 'nobody' is masculine:
- Personne n'est venu
Nobody came
- Cette personne est venue
That person came