Possible confusions in French
You have learned certain ways to recognize whether a noun is masculine or feminine, since this is so important in French. For example, usually, a general rule is that if the word ends with an “e” it should be feminine. Exemple: une table, une ardoise, une pomme, une guitare. However, ô surprise! Un arbre, un livre, le charme, le calme, are masculine nouns.
A few ones to remember:
un moule : a mold; — une moule: a mussel
un mousse: a young apprentice sailor; — la mousse: moss or foam
un page: a page, a pageboy; — une page: a page of a book
le carpe: carpus (anatomy); — la carpe: carp (the fish)
un somme: a nap; — une somme: an amount of money, or the result of an addition
un vase: a vase; — la vase: mud, silt
un critique: a person judging a literary or artistic work; une critique: the judgment of something
le manche: a handle; — une manche: sleeve
un livre: a book; — une livre: a pound (weight unit or currency)
Add to all that some paradoxes. The word “corsage” is masculine but is used for a feminine piece of clothing. The word “chemise” is feminine but the object it represents is usually a masculine type of clothing.
Watch out for a word such as “le foie” ( the liver), which is maculine even though it ends with an “e” as opposed to “la foi” (faith) which, of course, is feminine but does not have an “e” at the end.
