Video:Tips for Determining the Gender of Nouns in French
with Jihad MasmoudiGender of nouns is an important part of French language that you don't find in English. Learn some of the endings with some exceptions to discerning a noun's gender in this French video from About.com.See Transcript
Transcript:Tips for Determining the Gender of Nouns in French
Bonjour I'm Jihad for About.com and today we're talking about how to determine the gender of nouns in French.
Gender in French Language
Gender seems to follow no real pattern. In the end you will learn it simply by practicing and internalizing the words. One big help is that many endings are consistently masculine or feminine. Here are a few with some exceptions. These and more can be found on our French site.
Common Masculine Endings in French
Some Masculine endings are: -b with examples such as le plomb, le club, or un snob. -ble may denote a masculine word. The few exceptions are: une cible, une fable, and une table.
Words ending in a simple d tend to always be masculine such as: un pied. Words ending in an accented E are usually masculine with a few exceptions like: la clé or la psyché. Words that end in -eau, like drapeau (flag) are masculine with a few exceptions such as: l'eau and la peau. Words that end in -et are masculine. For example: le livret or un jouet. Words that end in -eur that describe professions are masculine such as: le professeur, le docteur, and le traducteur. -isme is a masculine ending for ideologies like le capitalisme, le féminisme, and l'environnementalisme.
Common Feminine Endings in French
Words ending in -ace tend to be feminine such as une place, la glace, and la trace. Words that end in -ance are normally feminine for example: l'ambiance, l'espérance, and l'indépendance. Words ending in -cé where the e is accented are feminine except maybe un crustacé. Words ending in e that are countries or names tend to be feminine such as La Tunisie, L'Italie, La Thaïlande.
Words that end in -eur but are abstract qualities tend to be feminine. A few exceptions include le bonheur, l'honneur, and le malheur. -ique is a classic feminine ending with just a few exceptions like: un graphique and un périphérique. Words that end in -sion and -tion are typically feminine except maybe: le bastion. But examples include: la tension, la révolution, and l'explosion. Words that end in -ure are feminine except for a few notable examples like le centaure or le dinosaure. There are many more examples on our French site.
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