[ARCHIVE] Noun genders in French

[dakanga]

Originally posted by Remy
Also see: [archive.ph]Noun genders in French

A noun is a word that represents a person, place, or thing, whether concrete (e.g., chair, dog) or abstract (idea, happiness).

In French, all nouns have a gender - they are either masculine or feminine.

The gender of some nouns makes sense ("homme" [man] is masculine, "femme" [woman] is feminine) but others don't: the words "personne" [person] and "victime" [victim] are always feminine, even when the person or victim is a man.

It is very important to learn a noun's gender along with the noun itself because articles, adjectives, some pronouns, and some verbs have to agree with nouns; that is, they change depending on the gender of the noun they modify.

There is no easy way to determine the gender of every noun, and you have to remember the gender with each word. But a number of patterns in suffixes and word endings are helpful: some tend to indicate masculine or feminine nouns (be careful with the exceptions, that are not listed below).

Masculine endings:

• age, for ex: barrage (in English: dam)
• b, for ex: plomb (in English: lead)
• ble, for ex: comptable (in English: accountant)
• c, for ex: porc (in English: pork)
• cle, for ex: oncle (in English: uncle)
• d, for ex: pied (in English: foot)
• de, for ex: hybride (in English: hybrid)
• é, for ex: carré (in English: square)
• eau, for ex: manteau (in English: coat)
• ège, for ex: piège (in English: trap)
• et, for ex: poulet (in English: chicken)
• eur, for ex: professeur (in English: teacher)
• f, for ex: cerf (in English: stag)
• i, for ex: pari (in English: bet)
• ing, for ex: planning (in English: planning)
• isme, for ex: capitalisme (in English: capitalism)
• k, for ex: tank (in English: tank)
• l, for ex: fusil (in English: rifle)
• m, for ex: prénom (in English: first name)
• me, for ex: synonyme (in English: synonym)
• ment, for ex: paiement (in English: payment)
• n, for ex: garçon (in English: boy)
• o, for ex: zoo (in English: zoo)
• oir, for ex: couloir (in English: lobby)
• one, for ex: cyclone (in English: cyclone)
• ou, for ex: hibou (in English: owl)
• p, for ex: loup (in English: wolf)
• r, for ex: char (in English: tank)
• s, for ex: tapis (in English: carpet)
• ste, for ex: cycliste (in English: cycler)
• t, for ex: yacht (in English: yacht)
• tre, for ex: lustre (in English: ceiling light)
• u, for ex: aperçu (in English: outline)
• x, for ex: choix (in English: choice)

Feminine endings:

• ace, for ex: face (in English: face)
• ade, for ex: limonade (in English: limonade)
• ale, for ex: cathédrale (in English: cathedral)
• ance, for ex: romance (in English: romance)
• be, for ex: syllabe (in English: syllable)
• ce, for ex: force (in English: strength)
• e, for ex: robe (in English: dress)
• ée, for ex: soirée (in English: evening/party)
• esse, for ex: maîtresse (in English: schoolteacher)
• eur, for ex: chaleur (in English: heat)
• fe, for ex: carafe (in English: carafe)
• ie, for ex: poulie (in English: pulley)
• ière, for ex: fermière (in English: farmer)
• ine, for ex: piscine (in English: swimming pool)
• ion, for ex: éducation (in English: education)
• ique, for ex: logique (in English: logic)
• ire, for ex: baignoire (in English: bathtub)
• ise, for ex: franchise (in English: franchise agreement)
• ite, for ex: bronchite (in English: bronchitis)
• lle, for ex: fille (in English: girl)
• mme, for ex: femme (in English: woman)
• nde, for ex: seconde (in English: second)
• nne, for ex: nonne (in English: nun)
• ole, for ex: auréole (in English: halo)
• se, for ex: course (in English: race)
• sion, for ex: pression (in English: pressure)
• son, for ex: maison (in English: house)
• té, for ex: acidité (in English: acidity)
• tié, for ex: amitié (in English: friendship)
• tion, for ex: partition (in English: score)
• ue, for ex: grue (in English: crane)
• ule, for ex: particule (in English: particle)
• ure, for ex: voiture (in English: car)

[dakanga]

Noun genders in French are hard - especially at first - for us English speakers to get our head around. To quote Remy :
" A noun is a word that represents a person, place, or thing, whether concrete (e.g., chair, dog) or abstract (idea, happiness). "

In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender - they are either masculine or feminine.

The gender of some nouns makes sense ( homme : man - is masculine ) , (femme : woman - is feminine ). But others don't ...
The words ( personne : person ) and ( victime : victim ) are always feminine, even when the person or victim is a man.

It is very important to learn a noun's gender along with the noun itself because articles, adjectives, some pronouns, and some verbs have to agree with nouns;
that is, they change depending on the gender of the noun they modify.

And as a heads up, it is best to learn the article un or une applicable for the noun, at the time you learn the noun. It is preferable to learn using un or une, as unlike le / la, they are not affected élision. You can read more about élision here.

There is no easy way to determine the gender of every noun, and you have to remember the gender with each word. But a number of patterns in suffixes and word endings are helpful: some tend to indicate masculine or feminine nouns "

Although all the french teachers I have met - say - there is only one way to learn the gender of all nouns - and that is to learn the gender for each word. However - as part of a learning strategy - to make it a bit more fun - to help make a game out of it - it is fun to try to work out if there are some patterns - that will make this acquisition quicker - and also more directed. So here goes : ....
Assume a noun is male except for:

Female RULE 1: if it ends in e AND IS NOT any of the male endings of:

• _age , i.e. *le visage : face ; barrage : dam
• _ble, i.e. le cartable : briefcase, school bag
• _cle , i.e. le couvercle : lid ; oncle : uncle
• _de , i.e. hybride : hybrid
• _é , i.e. carré : square
• _ège , i.e. piège : trap
• _ste , i.e. cycliste : cyclist
• _vre , i.e. le livre : the book / le poivre : the pepper

Female RULE 2: for "on" endings - it MAYBE female if the endings are :

• _ion, i.e.: éducation : education | pression : pressure | partition : score
  currently I believe this is true in 3/4 , 75% of times.
• _son, i.e.: maison : house ; la saison : the season
  Currently I believe it is masculine 2/3 , 66% of the time, and feminine 1/3 , 33% of the time (pending further research).

---

So this gives me 10 endings to remember, and then only the left over exceptions to learn as I come across them ...
BUT NOTE - these are NOT steadfast rules. They are like the rules for pirates - more like guidelines. And I am continuing to see if I can develop them further - while keeping them simple and very FEW in number. and then open discussion to check on discrepancies - and acknowledge them as discrepancies. They are strongly based on some FANTASTIC work by Remy. So if you like this - PLEASE also thank REMY !

[dakanga]

Originally posted by MadameSensei

Games with Nouns

Assuming groups of three (Let's call them students A, B, and C), you could make a pile of the noun cards. Put them face down in the center. Student A draws a card. Let's say it's "livre." Or better yet, a picture of un livre, so the student has to remember the name. Student A says, "C'est mon livre." Student B has to point to him and look him in the eyes and say "C'est ton livre." Student C has to address student B, point to student A and say "C'est son livre."

Then, it's student B's turn. Everybody switches roles.

My students sometimes get confused as to whose role is which after several turns, so I made three extra cards. One card has a picture of a kid pointing to himself, one has a picture of two people talking, one has a picture of two people talking about a third person (they appear to be whispering about him). The cards get passed clockwise. Then, the students remember whom they are speaking about with each turn.

At one point, before I decided on the cards, I bought these special fluorescent whiteboard markers that I could write on my black desks with, and students did a kind of "musical chairs" in their groups, switching seats with each turn. But some groups proved to be too lazy... So the cards work better.

[MoniqueMaRie]

In discussions it is always said that for every French word you should learn the article at the same time. I agree with that for the most part.

However, some endings are always clearly feminine or masculine.

• tion always feminine; I haven't found any exceptions so far; have you?

-age always masculine (note: in page, -age is not an ending).

[vero-bis]

un cation (ion positif) et un bastion. Je ne sais pas s'il y en a d'autres.
Et ils ne se prononcent pas "ssion".

[MoniqueMaRie]

oh: le bastion est féminine en allemand: die Bastion - je dois m'en souvenir

Le mot cation n'est jamais apparu dans aucune de mes conversations jusqu'à présent - et il est peu probable qu'il apparaisse...

[vero-bis]

oh: le bastion est féminine en allemand: die Bastion - je dois m'en souvenir

Le mot cation n'est jamais apparu dans aucune de mes conversations jusqu'à présent - et il est peu probable qu'il apparaisse...

Il a bizarrement disparu des miennes depuis quelques années !

[Saperlipopette!]

Comment Savoir si un Mot est Masculin ou Féminin en Français?

Dear Duolingo

Duolingo wrote two blogs in early Spring of 2022 about Grammatical Gender.

What’s up with all these gendered nouns?
Mar 22, 2022

How do I memorize the gender of every noun in my language?
April 5, 2022

Podcasts

Ici, tu trouveras des podcasts sur ce sujet.

Francais Avec Pierre

• Video (8:35)

Podcast Français Facile (9:34)

Français Immersion (15:17)

Français Authentique (13:26)

Learn French with Elsa (18:34)

Summary

According to the stats, by learning the following 40 word endings, you can correctly identify the gender of 75% of French nouns with an accuracy of close to 95%:

Le Truc de Genre

Probably the best use of these techniques is to help organize your memory & to create that "feeling" about the gender of nouns that Johan from FA talks about in his video.