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Why gender is important

LESSON FOCUS

OBJECTIFS DE LA LEÇON

1. to understand the importance of knowing whether a word is feminine or masculine
2. to learn a few tips which will help you recognise masculine and feminine words

Niveau

A1 - niveau découverte (beginner)

ARTICLES

Please note that most words ending in -e in French are feminine, most words ending with a consonant or not an e are masculine. However, this is far from being a strict rule, and there are many exceptions (see below).

Examples:

*Even though les or des is used for both masculine and feminine nouns, knowing the gender of the noun is important.

POURQUOI FAUT-IL SAVOIR SI UN NOM EST MASCULIN OU FÉMININ ?

A noun may come with the following grammatical influencers, such as adjectives, possessive or demonstrative adjectives, etc. See below.

ADJECTIFS

All adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun they qualify.

Examples:

*Though we use les for both nouns, the corresponding adjectives still have to reflect the gender, as well as the number, of the nouns. So verts is masculine plural because stylos is masculine plural.

ADJECTIFS ET PRONOMS POSSESSIFS

All possessive adjectives and pronouns agree in number and gender with the noun used.

Examples:

ADJECTIFS ET PRONOMS DÉMONSTRATIFS

All demonstrative pronouns and adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun used.

Exemples:

ADJECTIFS ET PRONOMS INTERROGATIFS

All interrogatives pronouns and adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun used.

Examples:

PRONOMS SUJETS

The subject pronoun has to agree with the number and gender of the noun it replaces.

Replacing the noun by a subject pronoun

le stylo vert - the green pen
il est vert - it* (he) is green

la fleur verte - the green flower
elle est verte - It (she) is green

les stylos verts - the green pens
ils sont verts - they are green

les fleurs vertes - the green flowers
elles sont vertes - they are green

*There is no such a thing as "it" in French, so everything has to be HE or SHE no matter if it is a door or a girl we are referring to.

PARTICIPE PASSÉ

When using the auxiliary verb être (to be) in a passé composé (past tense), the past participle of the conjugated verb must agree in gender and number with the subject.

je suis allé(e)*
tu es allé(e)*
il est allé
elle est allée
nous sommes allé(e)s
vous êtes allé(e)(s)
ils sont allés
elles sont allées

*The (e) will only be needed if je, tu, nous, vous are referring to feminine subjects.

FÉMININ OU MASCULIN ?

NOMS FÉMININS

The following endings usually indicate a feminine noun. However, there are some important exceptions, some of which are provided for information.

EndingsSome examplesSome exceptions
-ela table (the table), la chaise (the chair), une école
(a school), la France (France), la Belgique (Belgium)
l'arbre (the tree), le cartable (the satchel),
le téléphone (the phone), le livre (the book)
-aille, -eillela médaille (a medal), la taille (the size),
une abeille (a bee), une bataille (a battle)
-esseune forteresse (a fortress), la gentillesse (kindness),
la princesse (the princess)
-ièreune infirmière (a nurse), la couturière (the
seamstress), la cafetière (the coffee machine)
le cimetière (cemetery), l'arrière (the back)
-té, -tiél’amitié (friendship), la santé (health), la liberté
(freedom), la volonté (will)
l’été (the summer), un invité (a guest),
un traité (a treaty)
-tion,
-sion,
-ssion
la natation (swimming), la décision (the decision),
la conclusion (the conclusion), la télévision (the TV),
la pression (the pressure), la progression (the progression)
-tteune recette (a recipe), une dette (a debt), une maisonnette(a small house)
-tudel'inquiétude (worry), l'aptitude (the ability), l'habitude (the habit)

NOMS MASCULINS

The following endings usually indicate a masculine noun, however, there are also many exceptions...

EndingsSome examplesSome exceptions
-acle,
-age,
-asme,
-ège,
-ème,
-isme
le miracle (the miracle), le village (the village), l’enthousiasme (enthusiasm), le collège (the secondary school), le système (the system), le thème (the theme), le modernisme (modernism)la page (the page), la plage (a beach), une image (an image), la Norvège (Norway), la crème (the cream)
-ail,
-eil,
-euil
le travail (work), un éventail (a fan), le soleil (the sun), le réveil (the alarm clock), le fauteuil (the armchair)
-eurle docteur (the doctor), le bonheur (happiness), l'ascenseur (the lift), le professeur (the teacher)la blancheur (whiteness), la chaleur (heat), la pâleur (pallor), la lenteur (slowness)
-eau,
-ot,
-al,
le bateau (the boat), le château (the castle), le paquebot (the liner), l'abricot (the apricot), le canal (the canal), le cheval (the horse), un hôpital (a hospital), un bureau (a desk or an office)la peau (the skin), l’eau (water)
-mentun bâtiment (a building), un instrument (an instrument), un équipement (an equipment)une jument (a mare)
-oirun manoir (a manor), un miroir (a mirror), un trottoir (a pavement), un arrosoir (a watering can)
-ouun kangourou (a kangaroo), un clou (a nail),
un hibou (an owl)