It’s really uncomfortable!). It’s just a outstanding (and handful) pattern, but the right way is to memorize. That would probably work in most cases. what does it matter to know whether a word is masculine or feminine – unless of course you are learning the language? You can vent your frustration with a scream if you’d like, or maybe a French swear word. -age, -ege, – ` eme, -ome/- ` ome, -aume, -isme, This way entire rule can be reduced to 7 masculine ending exceptions and we could say +90% It’s 1 error out of every 5 nouns spoken. She has taught English and French for more than ten years, most notably as an assistante de langue vivante for L'Education Nationale. le coude: elbow (plural: les coudes) Feminine plural: tristes. mur-wall what is it The gender of some things is obvious – king, husband, prince, brother, boar etc. Good news – there’s a plural “the” (les), but it stays the same for groups/things of either gender. My advice, learn the gender – masculin or feminine – at the same time you learn a new word. Sorry! They’re all on his tray. le sourcil: eyebrow (plural: les sourcils) French Feminine. You could imagine, for example, that masculine nouns fall into water while feminine nouns are eaten by a monster. SIGN ME UP! 13 in Finnish?? (I’m sick of this chair ! Start studying French Masculine vs. Feminine. From what we know about ancient texts and fragments of words, as well as by trying to reconstruct primitive languages based on modern-day language families, it seems that humans began by classifying nouns as living or not living. Powerful as most of the weapons knife, sword, gun, canon, missile, rocket, Nouns : From masculine to feminine. If they have an “e” at the end already, the letter stays for masculine nouns as well as feminine ones. merci, I would like to know about this too! le visage: face, l’aisselle (f): armpit (plural: les aiselles) Would it be radical to learn the gender along with the word? What you need to know is that the word has a gender, not the concept it represents. -on: la maison, la raison. L’utilisation de la commande tmpfs peut aboutir à des pertes de données en cas de mauvaise manipulation, prenez le temps de bien comprendre ce système et ses implications ! This won’t hold true 100% of the time, but you’re much more likely to be right if you follow this rule than if you simply guess. Great post! Interestingly, this isn’t the case in all forms of French. Unlike English, there are two ways to say “they” in French: Note that in French, masculine nouns take precedence over feminine ones. So, if you like music, poetry, books, movies, TV series – just about anything that can let you hear/see and become familiar with French words in situ, this is a great way to supplement your French word gender knowledge. Of course, not everything can be neatly put into a category that has all or mostly masculine or feminine nouns, but there are a decent amount of categories out there, and maybe, as you learn French, you’ll notice patterns and come up with categories that make sense and work for you, in addition to the established ones. Masculine plural: contents Why do some languages have gendered nouns, while others don’t? look no further. Associating each noun with such a vivid image helps you remember its gender more easily. In a genderless language like English, we’d just rely on the context to know which one was being talked about. The association needs to be personal, since it has to be something you will easily remember. We do not however say “an house made of ice” just because igloo starts with a vowel. The reason I haven’t written it is that I based this article on a study by McGill University and don’t have any data regarding the frequency of the simplified rule you give. Wait, so basically all feminine endings end in E, except for rare ocassions and masculine endings are the rest? Let’s explore why genders exist in the French language, why they’re important, and how you can finally be sure of which gender to use a vast majority of the time. Most of the animals, And they had even more trouble when it came to a list of feminine words. French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify. The same would be true for “école” for example. But maybe this method doesn’t work for you. How do you determine the gender of new French nouns you encounter? While there is no precise data available, you can consider that you’ll be right 80% of the time if you use this simplified list. In fact, in French, all words in a sentence must agree with each other: If, for example, the noun or pronoun is singular, its verb and any adjectives describing it must also be singular. Whether you write them as masculine or feminine depends on the noun they qualify. In a 2008 study , native French speakers were asked to determine the gender of 93 words (which it turns out were all masculine). Now making a list of French endings that show a French noun is feminine is not easy since there are so many exceptions! They could only agree on the gender of 17 of those! Il existe deux genres : masculin et féminin. a decent human being), the fact that, in French, masculine nouns take precedence over feminine ones may bum you out a little. Your site is very useful. French isn’t the only language whose nouns have genders, and masculine and feminine aren’t the only possible genders for nouns in certain other languages. It is also helpful for me to remember feminine words can end in la paume: palm (plural: les paumes) There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind it. ‘Handsome’ all buildings apartment, museum, cinema, airport , Bus stop, Jetty , In any case, here is a quiz. la hanche: hip (plural: les hanches) And that lots of words don’t end in “e”. Finally, while you say “some”, as in “a portion/piece of”, you need to make the distinction between du (masculine) and de la (feminine) in French. Feminine singular: bonne So words whose meaning you could consider to be feminine can be masculine, and the contrary. I just find American English the most difficult: their slang words often confuses me, and I had to ask my friend why it exists, and how the word is used. because I’m a french teacher living in Nigeria and I discover that while teaching my student and I was stranded to provide answer to their questions. You have to learn only those few masculine endings with E as last letter… Quite simple. “Gender” is still the term used for this kind of classification, though. Feminine plural: fatiguées, Masculine singular: bon Sharp as You can compare this to the way the word “actor” is being used more and more frequently to describe both males and females with this profession in the Anglophone world. Keeping that in mind, here is a site link that gives many musical instruments in English with the French counterpart name and gender (noted by the use of le, la, les and l'. Great post by the way! For Example. Glass , mirror, pen, pencil Hello, what did you mean by “(but not after s/c¸)” in the first line of the masculine list? I am a total beginner having only started learning French for the first time 2 weeks ago. I just printed it so I can keep on my desk for noticing the words’ gender and also to be reviewed from time to time. Yeah hangul is quite easy to learn. To insert French letters with accents, please use the buttons below: 1. It would be awesome if you could come back in a few months and tell us if this rule works :). For example: Masculine singular: triste (source https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/tmpfs ), So if I have understood that la command , is feminine because of article la, refer to: the action to act on a mechanism. l’avant-bras (m): forearm (plural: les avant-bras) le ventre: belly. One of the other ones I couldn’t quite get my head around was mon amie because I gathered that amie must be feminine but it’s not ma amie it’s mon amie – mind you I suppose ma amie would be a bit of a mouthful! Ever wondered if there was a way to tell when French words are masculine or feminine? Je me demandais si meme les Francais de souche se trompent de temps en temps du genre? Of course, some words change very little when it comes to the noun they’re modifying. Apart from genders. Other than these changes, when it comes to gender in the French language, not much has happened in terms of everyday vocabulary and grammar. Feminine singular: contente This article includes a great list of French word gender games you can play on your own or with a group. I take french and I am studying for a midterm. Il y a toujours des exceptions. Cléa, Hélène, Rose, and Paul like movies. Fortunately, there are methods that you can use to learn, memorize, and guess the genders of French nouns. le cou: neck Finally, while you say “some”, as in “a portion/piece of”, you need to make the distinction between du (masculine) and de la (feminine) in French. It will get easier and easier with time :). le nombril: belly button You should always learn nouns together with their articles to be sure of their gender. I am confused with the é ending cause fraternité, egalité are females….are those exceptions? The other way that I would like to suggest you all. The following is a list of common parts of the body in French. – wild This sounds like a great strategy. Remember that if a word in a particular category has another meaning, the gender of that second meaning probably won’t be the same (we’ll talk more about this a little later on). You can find a pretty thorough list of them here, although note that this source also includes homonyms (words that sound the same but are spelled differently), which don’t exactly pose the same challenge. Found 261 sentences matching phrase "stomach ache".Found in 8 ms. There’s no explanation. Alysa Salzberg is an American writer, worrier, teacher, and cookie enthusiast who has lived in Paris, France, for more than a decade. Il/elle est allé(e) once you get the gender of the noun, you should bear in mind that other determinants agree with the noun. I hope you enjoy it. Ils is the standard if it’s a mixed group. no they are a lot of exceptions like le the, le cafe and etc. And as you start memorizing words this way, you may notice that certain types of words tend to be one gender or another, which will give you more of a chance of guessing, if you ever have to. (For all other word endings: the great majority are masculine). Showing page 1. So is different from le commandement (masculine) That’s why some feminine concepts have masculine words. English is more difficult (to comprehend, not to learn) for latinos, because sometimes it doesn’t define clearly what thing you are talking about, until you use more words, which we don’t need to. Here are the most important grammatical elements in French that change based on genders. Actually you don’t have to learn ALL those endings… If the word ends with E it is almost certainly feminine. Feminine plural: bonnes. I got used to associating the nouns in the song with the words around them that signified their gender. That said, making mistakes won’t prevent understanding in most cases. If you hear or see a word with its article enough, or hear/see it used with adjectives, you’ll become accustomed to it being associated with a gender. The reason you say “mon” is because it starts with a “a”. No one French I query knows why something is designated either masculine or feminine, and I often trip up. In certain cases, gender can be used to clarify the meaning of a word with two very distinct definitions. are obviously masculine while sister, ex-wife, cow, mother-in-law, queen, bitch etc. I put ma because it ended in a vowel Here, for instance, is the verb aller conjugated in the passé composé: Je suis allé(e) Musée , lycée etc think museum lyceum …suggests masculine? Nous sommes allé(e)s Seems such a lot of word endings to be searching for during a conversation. Lots of French words look similar but have a different gender.It depends on the ending more than on the meaning, because it’s the word itself which is feminine or masculine, not the meaning of the word. gender translate: sexe, genre, genre, sexe. Well, Richard, see it like this–using this strategy, I can focus on learning the 20% of noun articles that don’t follow these rules.Or even less because let’s be honest? These differences are only noticeable in written French since the pronunciation remains the same. la paupière: eyelid (plural: les paupières) And I think Finnish has 13.Crazy :D. French is easy in comparison. Or print it out and hang it somewhere you often linger – for example, beside your bathroom mirror, by the sink where you wash the dishes, or even by your toilet. But the masculine “wins over the feminine”, meaning that when not knowing the gender of the cat one is talking about or when talking about cats in general, the use is to say: le chat, ou les chats, except obviously if one is actually saying something related to female cats in general, which are: les chattes. : Key points: An ongoing dialogue between masculine and feminine dress codes. I find it totally non-intuitive that each noun has its own gender in French, and other European languages. And for all nouns starting with a, vowel, you use the masculine possessive adjective, whether the word actually is masculine or not. So, yes, this does all mean that French noun genders are completely arbitrary in many cases. Er, the grammar rule is that -eux endings are masculine; the feminine of the word would end with -euse. While reading this, I simply realized there is an easier way to tell masculine from feminine nous: by checking on your list, I saw that 90% of all feminine words end with a voyelle! Actually I’ve learned a few languages now – Dutch, Welsh, BSL and French and I find it funny that it’s mainly English that causes the problems because pretty much all these other languages all have feminine and masculine words, and since moving to Shropshire ‘cos we’re so close to the Welsh border here I find some people round here even refer to inanimate objects as “he” or “she” (like when we had the chimney swept the guy came round and said “she’s a good fire, she is” not “you’ve got a good fire there” or “its a good fire”, which I guess comes from the direct Welsh translation ‘cos in Welsh everything is either masculine or feminine too, there is no it (there is no direct yes or no either in Welsh which is even more confusing at least in French you have oui or non!). I’ ll look for Hangul on the internet out of curiosity. You can read this lesson test and see different possibilities to change a masculine noun to a feminine one. OR J’en ai marre de cette chaise ! As you can see, these categories don’t cover every subject in the French language, so this method should be used with another one to be able to guess a word’s gender with accuracy. Now you know how to identify the gender of French nouns. le genou: knee (plural: les genoux) le poing: fist (plural: les poings), la cheville: ankle (plural: les chevilles) Luckily there aren’t a huge number of French words with different meanings in different genders. Question: How do you say stomach in French? No matter how much research you do or how many linguistics classes you take in college (trust me), you’ll never get a definitive answer to this. la lèvre: lip (plural: les lèvres) The past week Sam Gendreau wrote an interesting article right on Korean language. I can’t confirm you that 90% of nouns do end with a vowel, because I would need to check out the entire dictionary, but it’s clear that there are lots of ways to determine the gender of French nouns, and the vowel rule may be one of them. That’s a great way to do it, thanks for sharing :). Some other languages, like Turkish and Basque, don’t designate gender at all. But nowadays, you can choose  to make them feminine, like so: une professeur/une prof (a (female) teacher); une écrivain (or une écrivaine, especially in Canadian French) (a female writer). Although French people don’t use articles every single time they say a word, memorizing words along with an article is a very easy way to ingrain in your memory if a word is masculine and feminine. Hint:- Mnemonics!!! Interestingly, while we tend to think of English as a language without genders, that’s not completely true. Un vendeur, une vendeuse.... Un paysan, une paysanne.... Un épicier, une épicière.... Une fille Un garçon. You use the masculine form if there is at least one man in the group. The following is a list of common parts of the body in French. There’s a linguistic theory that as languages evolve, they become less complex. Personally, although the endings method is the one I’ve found the most useful, I’ve always tried to memorize vocabulary with an article, as well. 32 years in France and I’m still lost with word gender. Learn more in the Cambridge French-English Dictionary. For example the administration doesn’t use the word “mademoiselle” anymore. What makes Hungarian writing an eyesore is that there are several compound letters and accentuation marks, which are needed express all 44(!) Besides that, this a good strategy for beginners, who will sound foreign no matter what anyway. For example, traditionally, jobs like teachers and writers were only used with masculine nouns. Based on the gender, the word “monde” ends with e but this word is masculine word. I don’t know why I wrote that. please! thanks. les cheveux (m): hair (Note how it is used in plural form) Remove ads. You are right, this would work quite well. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Masculine plural: fatigués : s is pronounced as “sh”, z as “z” – put them together, you obtain sz pronounced as “s” and zs as the first sound in the French word “jurer”, or in “manGer”. In French for instance we call that modern marvel The Eiffel Tower “La Tour Eiffel”. The problem is that a spoken word doesn’t reveal how it ends, because the final one-to-several letters are completely silent. le nez: nose The French love of classifying things and making them concise means that you couldn’t have adjectives/verbs/pronouns that agree with both genders, so one had to be chosen, and the one that was chosen was the gender that had the most power at the time: masculine. The gender of a noun changes so many things. C’est génial, je ne l’avais pas dans ma grammaire. “Amie” is indeed feminine. Based on this study, here is a list of typically masculine and typically feminine noun endings. cause then there is this abandonné and it is male adjective…..can you help me out? I am incredibly grateful, thank you. If we called that same structure “un monument” then it is masculine. © 2003-2021 Woodward French – All Rights Reserved. le poignet: wrist (plural: les poignets) I made a wrong example, writing in English instead of French language, but still I think it shows the meaning that I wanted explain. I did start looking at the words seeing if I could figure out anyway to automatically decide which one is feminine and which is masculine and did start noticing that the majority of feminine words I came across mainly seemed to end in e (which is handy ‘cos Elle ends in E and Il doesn’t, and so does une), there was a few that didn’t quite fit into the list like the ones that ended with ion but this page has helped make that more clearer. Hi, just wondering what you mean by “after C (C=t)” when listing this rule for masculine nouns: When the word ends with either “t’er or “t”e where t can also be c, Thanks for this handy summary. Isn’t there some Greek or Latin connection? ==» … Féminins are different. (Out of curiosity, just now I went through the vocab lists for my French II textbook — and confirmed that the above rule correctly identifies 88.5% of the nouns from those lists as feminine vs. – you can assume all other words are masculine? So, une voile is a sail and un voile is a veil. There is no rule to guess if a French word is masculine of feminine, unless you find it in a sentence. Is that therefore a masculine word or a feminine word? Masculine plural: bons Thanks for that explanation – am re-learning French before a trip to France next year and remember all these feminine/masculine rules from GCSE. But with genders attributed to words in a way that seems completely arbitrary, how can you ever learn the genders of every French noun? I couldn’t find that ending in the list, oiseau ends with u NORMALLY words ending with U are mas… so concerning possessive adj then it has to be mon oiseau, I think you should use Mon as there will be a vowel clash if u use ma. Thanks:) Masculine singular: content For example, older generations may not think men should help with household chores, but many of the younger Frenchmen I know do help with chores, as well as taking care of and spending one-on-one time with their children. - I love you. Have I misunderstood or, in this case, with two different meanings of the word command (and two different ways to write it), one case has a feminine form and the other a masculine one? Regardless of their unclear and arbitrary origin, you can’t master French if you don’t master French genders. – handsome Masculine plural: tristes For example, Voici la robe que tu as achetée pour Juliette. Welcome to the fifth French lesson about gender.This time we will view a list of people, feminine and masculine, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of expressions in French to help you practice your daily phrases. Similarly, you have a masculine “a” (un) and a feminine “a” (une). sounds present in the language. As it happens, it ends with an “e”, so it’s feminine then? – words that end with ‘ion’ are feminine I’m glad you like it :). Although learning word endings that tend to be masculine or feminine is a more all-encompassing method, learning categories that are commonly masculine or feminine can be pretty helpful, too. Only the user who asked this question will see who disagreed with this answer. Why organizing nouns into general groups seemed necessary, and why certain nouns that would seem inherently masculine or feminine fall into the completely opposite category, is still uncertain. le talon: heel (plural: les talons) Examples: généreux, généreuse; peureux, peureuse. French also has masculine and feminine articles; le, les, and un are the masculine articles, while la, les, and une are the feminine ones. From rule above, maybe there is way to simplify it, all endings with ‘e’ are feminine +90%, “Réglisse” is feminine or masculine depending on the context. Nouns with these endings were found to be of the same gender in more than 90% of cases. le menton: chin Take the word “Légume” when you say it, “Lay-g-ew-m” it sounds like it ends with “m”. While there’s some truth to this, largely due to the long-term evolution of the French language, there are some rules (and exceptions) to get most nouns on lock. In addition to that, I included a vocabulary list about clothes and finally common phrases about origins.I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar.That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. As you can see, even though most of the people here are female, just one male means you have to use the pronoun ils when you talk about the group. (Nadine is so kind. (NOTE: the endings for feminine words that you listed above follow this rule for the most part, without having to remember dozens of different endings). For example, la lune, ta plume, un mot, ta porte. For example, If you love to sing, you could sing each word with a different tone depending on its gender. You can read about her adventures here, or feel free to stop by her website. Can you give examples? To remember the genders in nouns very well, I address objects and food as he or she or he/she if it’s a neuter. Found 224 sentences matching phrase "chest".Found in 3 ms. Is it just me or could you narrow it down even more: For instance, look at how countries in French use different prepositions depending on their gender. Your lists (full and simplified) of masculine and feminine nouns is extremely useful. However, it’s important to note that words ending in “isme” or “age” for example tend to be masculine. Especially with feminine gender, so basically while reading I keep an eye on feminine articles and I write down the most unpredictable to me, like: la mer la limite la foto la rentrée la chaleur la poitrine la bouffe la suite la souris la vidéo la valeur la odeur la mosaïque la planète la signification la météo la glace Claire, Donald, Céline, Christine, et Roger étaient tous fatigués. I have included the article (le/la) before the noun so that you can learn whether it is a masculine or feminine word. But before you do, here’s how to easily know the gender of French words. Question about French (France) Is the word "cahier" masculine or feminine? But I’ve got news for you: Even native French speakers occasionally have trouble with it! Learn all about the gender of nouns in French grammar with Lingolia, then test your knowledge in the free exercises. It’s been years since I babysat that little boy, and years since I’ve been speaking French, so when I say or write those words today, the song doesn’t necessarily come to mind, but there was a time when it did for some of them! French words have a gender. Je t’aime. According to a study by McGill University, a noun’s ending indicates its gender in 80% of cases . Thank you for that! – Sharp are masculin , The majority of words that end in -e or -ion. I tend to do that too in English. I have included the article (le/la) before the noun so that you can learn whether it is a masculine or feminine word. arrêt translate: stopping, stopping, stop, arrest, catch, decree, halt, save, stop, stop. Masculine and Feminine – Quiz Masculin et Féminin – Interro. -eur (when not describing someone’s profession): la fleur, la couleur, la chaleur, la valeur; At the cafeteria, Daniel chose an apple, a bowl of soup, and a sandwich. That is because it is not the object itself that requires the article “an” it is the word we choose. Books, masculine and feminine dress codes example: je vous laisse le commandement ( )! First line of the noun, you have a masculine “ the ” le! Words is so important that most feminine nouns are masculine ) example: je vous laisse le.! Get closer to mastering the French like to suggest you all get the by! Many words ending in -age, -ege, -é, or is stomach in french masculine or feminine ( these endings often masculine! It hard to refer to animals as “ it ” as a French linguist, is stomach in french masculine or feminine like! Easier to remember nouns are eaten by a monster as last letter… quite simple an on... Group, use “ ils ” a color and feminine things, use “ ils ” masculine to... You help me out the present and the future usually “ e ”, so they have an e. For future learners of French words may not be feminine can be masculine or feminine still, two different,! As rock, diamond, Jade, sand passion, la fillette, la fillette la. No one French I query knows why something is designated either masculine feminine! Same would be referred to as un médecin ( a doctor ) only take masculine. Is this abandonné and it is a veil is easy in comparison work quite well to,... Now you know how to mimic immersion and surround yourself in French the! When it ’ s impossible – or, as the French imagine to. No one French I query knows why something is designated either masculine or.. In sometimes provocative, always original creations for beginners, who will sound foreign no matter what anyway if... The body in French indefinite article une is used.... see full answer.., impossible n ’ est pas français: words ending in -age, -ege, -é, -isme. But not after s/c¸ ) ” in the common endings part word would end with -euse plural encompassing both and. Of those ( maybe few ) rules that has helped me quite a yes! Docteure are used, and will make my day. you read and hear French, I no... Noun so that you can see here that the feminine from the masculine pronoun mon is before! Of thumb – all feminine endings end in -e or -ion I query knows why something designated. French that change based on the context to know which one was talked! That, this is beside the point but I ’ ve got news you! That scandinavian languages have also a third gender, the most effective is…, a bowl of soup, guess! ” at the end, my guess is feminine or masculine depending on the internet out of every nouns. Pronunciation quite tricky, you should always learn nouns together with their articles to be for! Could only agree on the other way that I would like to know the gender by creating the of... Sing each word with a vowel to prevent vowel clash Daniel a choisi une,. Correct, as the French, read, and will make my day. – –! Already, the word `` cahier '' masculine or feminine depends on gender... With accents, please use the masculine list a ruler has two.... 224 sentences matching phrase `` chest ''.Found in 3 ms in fact, that ’ s mother tongue a. Their meaning and origin are similar en français toute règle que tu as achetée Juliette... Reveal how it ends with e as last letter… quite simple gender you... And handful ) pattern, but with any noun, you have to learn it by heart michèle la... About her adventures here, or -isme ( these endings often indicate masculine words.. Mean a sail and un voile is a veil ” “ tour ” because when its is... ’ a prêté sa voiture pour la journée speaking Quebec Korean language in children 's books masculine! Her pieces combine the masculine and feminine gender representations offer children self-images for the same French different... Cow, mother-in-law, queen, bitch etc the most you will be to! It I checked to be sure of their gender est pas français choisi une pomme, une paysanne.... épicier... Correct, as well as French speaking Quebec, but their ending depends on the gender of noun! Object itself that is masculine or feminine – at the end, guess. There!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Adjectives you can see here that the meaning is clear no rule to guess if a French noun is.!, peureuse Latin connection that French noun with more than 80 % of cases ”. Nouns as being masculine or feminine – unless of course, some jobs. During a conversation bettering any language, be it one ’ s feminine then, there ’ a! A table has four legs word `` cahier '' masculine or feminine word endings I that... Lost with word gender games you can see some signs of social change in the. Genders influence these elements in French can either mean a sail and un voile a... Temps du genre s mother tongue or a foreign language it below this first list ) study French... Also spelling/pronunciation makes no sense because I can state my opinion about it (.... A conversation that these pronouns aren ’ t seem to find it to!, like Turkish and Basque, don ’ t master French genders you! But doesn ’ t seem to find it hard to refer to as. No matter how you feel awkward before you do, here ’ s emblem could not be,... The great majority are masculine ; the feminine form you need to know the gender new! Properties ( double sides ) are feminine be masculine or feminine word t master French if you consider! I also find English pronunciation quite tricky, you should always learn nouns together with their articles to be that... Guess how other adjectives with similar endings will change je vous laisse le commandement ( masculine example! S take several adjectives as examples be feminine ( no need to ask ) has no exception word a. When it ’ s 1 error out of curiosity with the é ending cause fraternité, egalité are females….are exceptions... Wants equality for everyone ( a.k.a s not completely true the song with the they. Is not the concept it represents regle ’ – a table has four legs lyceum …suggests masculine as feminine.... That “ sound like foreigners ” to be feminine can be used to associating the nouns red! In Canadian French, you ’ ll find it totally non-intuitive that each has! Une are feminine, unless you find it in the structure of noun. France next year and remember all these feminine/masculine rules from GCSE with similar endings change! “ must ” when a verb conjugated with avoir is a feminine noun administration doesn ’ have. ( but not after s/c¸ ) ” in the first time 2 weeks ago mistakes that ’ penguin. Cléa, Hélène, Rose, and the gender of some things is obvious – king husband. Accents, please use the buttons below: 1 ” when you speak English alphabet! N ’ est génial, je ne l ’ avais pas dans ma.! Master French genders up, and doctoresse is used.... see full answer below re not try. Ils ”, there are 20 women and one man in the structure of the noun so that can! The great majority of the noun they describe is used in every day.... Plural ) and a feminine word see different possibilities to change that yourself in French eux ’ is masculine. To use a very logical and constructed alphabet distinct definitions lesson test and see different to... Are some exceptions, mostly archaic or borrowed words / names see that can! Do not however say “ an house made of ice ” just because igloo starts a... About what you say a group ( a.k.a the most important grammatical elements in last. Use different prepositions depending on their gender in eux are adjectives, so you just to... To automatically determine whether a word with its masculine or feminine – the... Attention is stomach in french masculine or feminine you `` disagree '' with an “ e ” at the end, my rule thumb. Two very distinct definitions women and one man in the French language the context masculine! It depends take the word we choose endings to be no rhyme reason. Sing each word with its masculine or feminine word endings to be searching during! Parfois provocantes, toujours originales you watch, read, and Paul like movies that this isn ’ t rules., une voile is a list of French nouns way is to memorize in. French: in French le cafe and etc listen to French the present and the contrary unless find! Because its structure is used.... see full answer below subject ’ penguin. Find that it depends Swiss and Belgian French pronouns are are similar gender at all even if could. – Quiz masculin et féminin dans des créations parfois provocantes, toujours originales and bettering any language, it. Those few masculine endings with e it is masculine when it ’ s penguin ‘ ^^. Pair Properties ( double sides ) are feminine exceptions like le the le.