The gender of French nouns
So, you say it is hard to know the gender of French nouns. And you are absolutely correct. A number of rules exist but most of the time, one has to just know the nouns through exposure and practice.
First, let’s review a few rules:
— Are masculine:
— nouns ending in
“-age”. Exemple, le message, le passage. [ except for une image, la nage, la rage,….]
“-al, -ail, -ment, -eil, -eur invoquing a profession, a specialty, activity or object; Examples: le bal, l’évantail, le moment, le réveil, le décorateur, le professeur.
-illon, -ier, -isme, -is. Examples, le papillon, le papier, le semis [except for brebis, oasis, vis, souris,….]
—nouns of metals and trees [except for some small trees such as la vigne, l’aubépine, la yeuse]
Are feminine:
— nouns ending
.-most nouns ending in “elle”. Examples: une pelle, une bretelle...The most common exceptions are:
un carpelle, un flagelle, un libelle, un organelle, le vermicelle, le violoncelle
.-most nouns ending in “ette”. Example: une étiquette. The most common exceptions are:
un squelette, un magnétocassette, un bébé-éprouvette, un fume-cigarette, un porte-serviette, un casse-noisette, un fixe-chaussette, un quartette, un quintette.
— nouns ending:
-in aison , -ande, -aine, -esse, -aie, -aille, -eille, -ille [except for braille, quadrille, trille….
-in -ance, -ence [except for silence,]
-in -ade, [except for jade….]
-in -ée [except for lycée, musée, mausolée, caducée, hyménée, gynécée]
–Abstracts nouns ending in -eur, -ité [except for past participles], in -ie, [except for génie, incendie, etc….], -tion, -ation, -ition, -otion, -ution, [except for bastion,…….] are feminine.
–Nouns ending in -ure, [except for augure, bromure, cyanure, murmure], are feminine.
–Nouns indicating a science are feminine. [Except for “le droit”]
See how you do with the following nouns 🙂
haltère
abysse
acrostiche
abscisse,
acoustique
agrume
alcôve,
algèbre
amalgame
ambre
amiante
anagramme
antidote
anicroche
antre
testicule
anode
antichambre
apothéose
apogée
tentacule
atmosphère
termite
équinoxe
testicule
See the next post for the answers.
Thanks,
Frantz
