Gender - Easy Learning Grammar French
1 Nouns referring to people
- Most nouns referring to men and boys are masculine.
| un homme | a man |
| un roi | a king |
- Most nouns referring to women and girls are feminine.
| une fille | a girl |
| une reine | a queen |
- When the same word is used to refer to either men/boys or women/girls, its gender usually changes depending on the sex of the person it refers to.
| un camarade | a (male) friend |
| une camarade | a (female) friend |
| un Belge | a Belgian (man) |
| une Belge | a Belgian (woman) |
Grammar Extra!Some words for people have only one possible gender, whether they refer to a male or a female.
| un bébé | a (male or female) baby |
| un guide | a (male or female) guide |
| une personne | a (male or female) person |
| une vedette | a (male or female) star |
- In English, we can sometimes make a word masculine or feminine by changing the ending, for example, Englishman and Englishwoman, or prince and princess. In French, very often the ending of a noun changes depending on whether it refers to a man or a woman.
| un Anglais | an Englishman |
| une Anglaise | an Englishwoman |
| un prince | a prince |
| une princesse | a princess |
| un employé | a (male) employee |
| une employée | a (female) employee |
- For more information on Masculine and feminine forms of words, see Nouns.
2 Nouns referring to animals
- In English we can choose between words like bull or cow, depending on the sex of the animal we are referring to. In French too there are sometimes separate words for male and female animals.
| un taureau | a bull |
| une vache | a cow |
- Sometimes, the same word with different endings is used for male and female animals.
| un chien | a (male) dog |
| une chienne | a (female) dog, a bitch |
TipWhen you do not know or care what sex the animal is, you can usually use the masculine form as a general word.
- Words for other animals do not change according to the sex of the animal. Just learn the French word with its gender, which is always the same.
| un poisson | a fish |
| une souris | a mouse |
3 Nouns referring to things
- In English, we call all things – for example, table, car, book, apple – ‘it’. In French, however, things are either masculine or feminine. As things do not divide into sexes the way humans and animals do, there are no physical clues to help you with their gender in French. Try to learn the gender as you learn the word.
- There are lots of rules to help you:
- words ending in -e are generally feminine (une boulangerie a baker’s; une banque a bank)
- words ending in a consonant (any letter except a, e, i, o or u) are generally masculine (un aéroport an airport; un film a film)
- There are some exceptions to these rules, so it is best to check in a dictionary if you are unsure.
- These endings are often found on masculine nouns.
| Masculine ending | Examples |
| -age | un village a village un voyage a journey un étage a floor le fromage cheese BUT: une image a picture une page a page la plage the beach |
| -ment | un appartement a flat un bâtiment a building le ciment cement un vêtement a garment |
| -oir | un miroir a mirror un couloir a corridor le soir the evening un mouchoir a handkerchief |
| -sme | le tourisme tourism le racisme racism |
| -eau | un cadeau a present un chapeau a hat un gâteau a cake le rideau the curtain BUT: la peau skin l’eau water |
| -eu | un jeu a game |
| -ou | un chou a cabbage le genou the knee |
| -ier | le cahier the exercise book un quartier an area un escalier a staircase |
| -in | un magasin a shop un jardin a garden un dessin a drawing le vin the wine BUT: la fin the end une main a hand |
| -on | un champignon a mushroom un ballon a ball le citron the lemon BUT: une maison a house la saison the season |
- The following types of word are also masculine:
- names of the days of the week, and the months and seasons of the year
| le lundi | Monday |
| septembre prochain | next September |
| le printemps | Spring |
- the names of languages
| le français | French |
| le portugais | Portuguese |
| Tu apprends le français depuis combien de temps? | How long have you been learning French? |
- most metric weights and measures
| un gramme | a gramme |
| un mètre | a metre |
| un kilomètre | a kilometre |
- English nouns used in French
| le football | football |
| un tee-shirt | a tee-shirt |
| un sandwich | a sandwich |
- These endings are often found on feminine nouns.
| Feminine ending | Examples |
| -ance -anse -ence -ense | la chance luck, chance une danse a dance la patience patience la défense defence BUT: le silence silence |
| -ion | une région a region une addition a bill une réunion a meeting la circulation traffic BUT: un avion a plane |
| -té -tié | une spécialité a speciality la moitié half BUT: un été a summer le pâté pâté |
Grammar Extra!A few words have different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. These are the most common:
| Masculine | Meaning | Example | Feminine | Meaning | Example |
| un livre | a book | un livre de poche a paperback | une livre | a pound | une livre sterling a pound sterling |
| un mode | a method | le mode d’emploi the directions for use | la mode | fashion | à la mode in fashion |
| un poste | a set (TV/radio); a post (job); an extension (phone) | un poste de professeur a teaching job | la poste | post the post office | mettre quelque chose à la poste to post something |
| un tour | a turn; a walk | faire un tour to go for a walk | une tour | tower | la tour Eiffel the Eiffel Tower |
Key points
- Most nouns referring to men, boys and male animals are masculine; most nouns referring to women, girls and female animals are feminine. The ending of a French noun often changes depending on whether it refers to a male or a female.
- Generally, words ending in -e are feminine and words ending in a consonant are masculine, though there are many exceptions to this rule.
- These endings are often found on masculine nouns:-age, -ment, -oir, -sme, -eau, -eu, -ou, -ier, -in and -on.
- These endings are often found on feminine nouns: -ance, -anse, -ence, -ense, -ion, -té, -tié.
- Days of the week, months and seasons of the year are masculine. So are languages, most metric weights and measures, and English nouns used in French.
4 Masculine and feminine forms of words
- In French there are sometimes very different words for men and women, and for male and female animals, just as in English.
| un homme | a man |
| une femme | a woman |
| un taureau | a bull |
| une vache | a cow |
| un neveu | a nephew |
| une nièce | a niece |
- Many masculine French nouns can be made feminine simply by changing the ending. This is usually done by adding an -e to the masculine noun to form the feminine.
| un ami | a (male) friend |
| une amie | a (female) friend |
| un employé | a (male) employee |
| une employée | a (female) employee |
| un Français | a Frenchman |
| une Française | a Frenchwoman |
- If the masculine singular form already ends in -e, no further e is added.
| un élève | a (male) pupil |
| une élève | a (female) pupil |
| un camarade | a (male) friend |
| une camarade | a (female) friend |
| un collègue | a (male) colleague |
| une collègue | a (female) colleague |
TipIf a masculine noun ends in a vowel, its pronunciation does not change when an -e is added to form the feminine. For example,ami and amie (meaning friend) are both pronounced the same.If a masculine noun ends with a consonant that is not pronounced, for example, -d, -s, -r or -t, you DO pronounce that consonant when an -e is added in the feminine. For example, in étudiant (meaning student), you cannot hear the t; in étudiante, you can hear the t.
TipSome masculine nouns, such as voisin (meaning neighbour), end in what is called a nasal vowel and an -n. With these words, you pronounce the vowel ‘through your nose’ but DO NOT say the n. When an -e is added in the feminine – for example, voisine – the vowel becomes a normal one instead of a nasal vowel and you DO pronounce the n.
5 Some other patterns
- Some changes to endings from masculine to feminine are a little more complicated but still fall into a regular pattern.
| Masculine ending | Feminine ending | Example | Meaning |
| -f | -ve | un veuf/une veuve | a widower/a widow |
| -x | -se | un époux/une épouse | a husband/a wife |
| -eur | -euse | un danseur/une danseuse | a (male) dancer/a (female) dancer |
| -teur | -teuse -trice | un chanteur/une chanteuse un acteur/une actrice | a (male) singer/a (female) singer an actor/an actress |
| -an | -anne | un paysan/une paysanne | a (male) farmer/a (female) farmer |
| -ien | -ienne | un Parisien/une Parisienne | a (male) Parisian/a (female) Parisian |
| -on | -onne | un lion/une lionne | a lion/a lioness |
| -er | -ère | un étranger/une étrangère | a (male) foreigner/a (female) foreigner |
| -et | -ette | le cadet/la cadette | the youngest (male) child the youngest (female) child |
| -el | -elle | un professionnel/une professionnelle | a (male) professional/a (female) professional |
Key points
- Many masculine French nouns can be made to refer to females by adding an -e. If the masculine singular form already ends in-e, no further e is added.
- The pronunciation of feminine nouns is sometimes different from that of the corresponding masculine nouns.
- Other patterns include:
| -f -ve | -teur -teuse or -trice | -er -ère |
| -x -se | -an, -en and -on -anne, | -et -ette |
| -eur -euse | -enne and -onne | -el -elle |