Understanding the Gender of Nouns in French
In French, every noun has a gender. This means that each noun is either masculine or feminine. Knowing the gender of a noun is important because it affects other words in the sentence, like articles and adjectives.
How to Identify the Gender of Nouns
Important Points
- Nouns that refer to males are usually masculine, and nouns that refer to females are usually feminine.
- Many nouns that end in '-e' are feminine, but there are exceptions.
- Nouns that end in '-age', '-ment', '-eau', '-isme', and '-oir' are usually masculine.
- Nouns that end in '-tion', '-sion', '-té', '-ette', '-ance', and '-ence' are usually feminine.
- Some nouns have the same form for both masculine and feminine, like 'élève' (student).
Examples of Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Examples
- Le chien est mignon. (The dog is cute.)
- La fille joue dans le parc. (The girl is playing in the park.)
- Un arbre est grand. (A tree is tall.)
Articles and Adjectives Change with Gender
In French, the words for 'the', 'a', and adjectives change depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. For example, 'le' is used for masculine nouns, and 'la' is used for feminine nouns.
Examples
- Le chat noir (The black cat - masculine)
- La maison blanche (The white house - feminine)
- Un ami gentil (A nice friend - masculine)