Gender of French nouns
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All French nouns have a gender. Every noun is defined as either masculine (French: masculin) or feminine (French: féminin). There are no neuter nouns.
Whenever you are using a noun, you need to know whether it is masculine or feminine as this affects the form of other words used with it, such as:
Especially when it comes to definite articles you have to consider that:
Please note that l' is used before masculine or feminine nouns beginning with a vowel or silent h.
ln English, we refer to things with "it". ln French, however, things are either masculine or feminine. Because of this, the gender usually is used arbitrary and must be memorized in the process of learning new vocabularies.
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1.) There are nouns which have a different meaning, according to the circumstance if they're used as a masculine or feminine.
masculine form | feminine form |
---|---|
le crêpe (textile) | la crêpe (pancake) |
le critique (critic) | la critique (criticism) |
le livre (book) | la livre (pound) |
le manche (stem) | la manche (sleeve) |
le mémoire (memoir) | la mémoire (memory) |
le mode (mode) | la mode (fashion) |
le mort (death man) | la mort (death) |
le poêle (stove) | la poêle (frying pan) |
le vase (vase) | la vase (mud) |
le tour (tour) | la tour (tower) |
2.) Nouns which end in -eur are masculine when they want to describe something concrete and female, when they want to describe something abstract.
3.) Certain characteristic endings indicate the gender of the noun:
masculine endings | Examples for masculine endings | feminine endings | Examples for feminine endings |
---|---|---|---|
-age | le garage un avantage (the garage, an advantage) | -ade | la salade la promenade (the salat, the walk) |
-al | le cheval le signal (the horse, the signal) | -ance -ence | la distance la différence (the distance, the difference) |
-eau | le château le bateau (the castle, the boat) | -ée | la journée une idée (the day, the idea) |
-ent | le document le talent (the document, the talent) | -elle | les nouvelles une échelle (the news, the ladder) |
-et | le billet le guichet (the ticket, the ticket counter) | -ette | la cigarette la bicyclette (the cigarette, the bicycle) |
-ier | le cahier le métier (exercise book, the job) | -ie | la maladie la librairie (the disease, the library) |
-isme | le tourisme le communisme (the tourism, the communism) | -ine | la cuisine la cantine (the kitchen, the canteen) |
-oir | le devoir le pouvoir (the homework, the power) | -ion | la télévision la distraction (the television, the distraction) |
Generally, we add an -e to a masculine noun in order to obtain the feminine.
But they are many exceptions as we already saw below in the lists.
the nouns ending in -er make their feminine en ère
Some nouns double the final consonant before the -e
Some nouns in -e make them feminine en -esse
The nouns ending in -eur turn into feminine:
eur | euse | trice | esse |
---|---|---|---|
vendeur | vendeuse | ||
moniteur | monitrice | ||
docteur | docteresse |
Nouns ending in -if make them feminine in -ive
Some nouns completely change in the feminine and some others are irregulars like the animals gender.
1.) The gender of persons and animals in French is always reduced to their natural gender.
2.) You recognize a female noun not only by looking at the article but also because of the ending
3.) Sometimes you can also add -é to the end of a masculine noun to form the feminine.
4.) It's also common to use periphrases.
5.) Some nouns have two genders, which are differentiated only by their articles.
6.) For some nouns there is only a masculine form, which applies to both sexes.
Masculine noun | Feminine noun | Translation |
---|---|---|
Un taureau | Une vache | (A cow) |
Un cheval | Une jument | (A horse) |
Un agneau | Une agnelle | (A lamb) |
Un loup | Une louve | (A wolf) |
Un canard | Une cane | (A duck) |
Un âne | Une ânesse | (A donkey) |
Un cerf | Une biche | (A deer) |
Un chameau | Une chamelle | (A camel) |
Un chien | Une chienne | (A dog) |
Un dindon | Une dinde | (A turkey) |
Un singe | Une guenon | (A monkey) |
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Hello,
I am a multilingual teacher with experience in teaching French to German, Japanese, English, Bulgarian and Italian-speaking students, etc. (levels A1 to C1).
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My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
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Blanca N.Thank you Jolanda, you are very nice!
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My name is Tiska. I am a French Teacher with experiences with adults and teenagers in Public Education (USA) and Language Schools. I am holding a Master Degree in FLE (Teaching French as a Foreign Language).
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Online French as a second language (FSL) courses for all levels, preparation for official exams (DELF, DALF, TCF), correction of academic work, translations, preparation for job interviews or public speeches. I also teach Spanish, as I speak it fluently and know about teaching techniques.
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Having taught FSL full-time for 15 years and obtained the DAEFLE (Diploma of Aptitude in Teaching French as a Foreign Language) from the Alliance Française Paris allows me to balance the two elements a good teacher needs: experience and theory. I have worked with people of all levels, from beginners to very advanced, and all ages, from 6 to 86 years old. I also have a great deal of experience in the DELF/DALF tests preparation, with over 90% of success.
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Hi,
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I create in a school of langage in Spain a little faculty for my french lessons with a group from 15 years olds until 25.
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You will make a lot of progress!
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I have started with French courses because I needed to improve my French language for work. Claudie is a great teacher who comes up with materials that suit my medical interests and needs. Claudie makes the lessons interesting and relaxed and she’s remarkably patient. Thanks Claudie for the great lessons!!!
Claudie S.Thank you very much for this comment, always a pleasure to help you learn the French language !!
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Dear future student,
My name is Mélanie, I am 40 years old, I am Belgian and I live near Brussels in Belgium.
I have 7 years of experience in teaching French as a foreign language. I have a degree in Modern Languages and Literature. I have an agrégation in higher secondary education. French is my mother tongue. Additionally I have a C2 level in Spanish.
I have taught adults (beginner - advanced) in various training institutions (CLL, CVO Semper, ...). I have taught both large and small groups. I can therefore adapt my teaching methods according to the number of people.
As far as my teaching methods are concerned, I create communicative exercises.
I always try to get the student to express themselves as much as possible. In case of groups, I create individual exercises, in groups of two or four.
I give homework in which the students have to write a short text related to a grammatical concept they have seen. I also give additional grammatical exercises.
I also test my students' knowledge. For example, during the course, I listen to my students and comment on their oral productions. I also do small listening comprehensions and reading comprehensions.
I can also explain certain grammatical points or translate certain words into the student's language if it is needed, but generally I always try to teach in the target language.
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I also taught asylum seekers.
As far as teaching material is concerned, I use a lot of material from Zexperts fle https://leszexpertsfle.com/toutes-les-ressources-fle/ which I adapt to the objectives of the lesson. I also look for exercises in FLE manuals such as Totem, Edito, Alter Ego, Expression orale... Naturally, I adapt the exercises according to the needs of the student. I also look for songs in YouTube.
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Hi and welcome !
Preparation for exams, desire or need to learn and improve your level.
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Who am I ?
I am a former parliamentary assistant to French deputies, and communication teacher.
But I wanted to change my life, I am now a scuba diving instructor, currently in Bali, Indonesia.
Pedagogue, patient and organized for a deserved result considering your efforts.
I am used to teach and a lover of the French language.
See you soon for your first lesson together, that's your job !
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Lidia is an experienced and professional teacher for Italian. With her nicely self-designed teaching material, she covers all the linguistic competencies such as reading, writing, listening and speaking. Also, she includes modern teaching techniques such as games and proposes interesting movies to watch.
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Virginie is the best French teacher I ever came across. She has been a great help in preparing for DELF B1. Her clear method of explaining helps me understand and retain the grammar rules. She is very patient and her calm personality removes my anxiety and puts my mind at ease. I highly recommend her and thank her for the wonderful learning experience.
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Very social and helpful teacher with an excellent grasp on how to improve your french in a structured fashion. The informal style is very pleasant and will help you acquire the language in a natural, unforced fashion. The teaching materials and tools used are geared to your level and are a great help in smoothing out the learning curve. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a learn by doing approach with the help of proven teaching tools and documents.
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