Grammatical gender is a way of grouping nouns. English usually does not assign grammatical gender to ordinary nouns such as book, table, or house.
In French, every noun is masculine or feminine. A noun's gender affects the articles, adjectives, and other words used with it.
Masculine and feminine nouns
The article used with a singular noun often shows its gender.
Masculine nouns:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un livre | a book |
| le jardin | the garden |
| un problème | a problem |
Feminine nouns:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| une table | a table |
| la maison | the house |
| une question | a question |
Grammatical gender does not describe biological sex. A word such as livre is masculine and table is feminine because of their grammatical classification.
Nouns are easier to recognize and remember when you learn them together with their article, such as le livre or la table.
Noun endings and gender
A noun's ending can sometimes give a clue to its gender. These patterns are useful, but they are not absolute rules.
Some endings are commonly masculine:
| Ending | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| -age | le village | the village |
| -ment | le document | the document |
| -eau | le bureau | the office |
| -isme | le tourisme | tourism |
Other endings are commonly feminine:
| Ending | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| -tion | la nation | the nation |
| -sion | la décision | the decision |
| -té | la liberté | freedom |
| -ette | la bicyclette | the bicycle |
| -ance | la différence | the difference |
These endings can help when the gender of a noun is unfamiliar, but exceptions exist. The article remains the most reliable way to learn the gender of an individual noun.
Nouns with separate masculine and feminine forms
Some nouns that refer to people or animals have related masculine and feminine forms.
The feminine form is sometimes created by adding -e:
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| un ami | une amie | a male friend / a female friend |
| un étudiant | une étudiante | a male student / a female student |
| un voisin | une voisine | a male neighbor / a female neighbor |
Other nouns use a different ending in the feminine:
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| un vendeur | une vendeuse | a salesman / a saleswoman |
| un acteur | une actrice | an actor / an actress |
| un serveur | une serveuse | a waiter / a waitress |
The article and noun form work together to show whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
Irregular gender forms
Some masculine and feminine nouns do not follow a regular spelling pattern. They use different words instead.
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| un homme | une femme | a man / a woman |
| un père | une mère | a father / a mother |
| un frère | une sœur | a brother / a sister |
| un garçon | une fille | a boy / a girl |
| un oncle | une tante | an uncle / an aunt |
These pairs need to be learned individually because the feminine form cannot be predicted from the masculine form.
Meaning changes with noun gender
Some French nouns have the same spelling but a different meaning depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. The article shows which meaning is intended:
Masculine nouns:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le livre | the book |
| le mode | the mode, method |
| le tour | the tour, turn |
| le manche | the handle |
Feminine nouns:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| la livre | the pound |
| la mode | fashion |
| la tour | the tower |
| la manche | the sleeve |
Gender is therefore part of the meaning of these nouns, not only a grammatical feature.
Learning the article with the noun makes it easier to distinguish pairs such as le livre and la livre.
From learning to practice
When reading or listening to French, notice the article that appears with each noun. Use it to identify whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and pay attention to endings that provide useful gender clues.
Practice learning new nouns together with their articles and comparing related masculine and feminine forms. This will make it easier to choose the correct articles and adjective forms when using the noun in a sentence.