Gender and Number of Nouns and Definite Articles
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| French |
A noun is a person, place, or thing. In French, all nouns are masculine or feminine (gender) and singular or plural (number).
The French defi nite article
is used more frequently than the is
used in English.
The Definite Article
The French defi nite
article agrees with the noun in gender and
number.
Singular Plural
Masculine le les
Feminine la les
Masculine and feminine l’ les
before
a vowel sound
or
mute h
Masculine Nouns
Masculine singular nouns take the defi nite article le. The genders of
French nouns are hard to
guess. You will learn them as you go along. Pronounce the following nouns with their article. Refer to the Guide
to Pronunciation as needed.
le chat (the cat) le frère (the brother)
le chien (the dog) le garçon (the boy)
le cinéma (the cinema,film,movies) le livre (the book)
le cours (the course, class) le téléphone (the telephone)
le football (soccer) le vin (the wine)
Feminine Nouns
Feminine singular nouns take the defi nite article la.
la banque (the bank) la lampe (the lamp)
la boutique (the store, shop) la langue (the language)
la chemise (the shirt) la soeur (the sister)
la femme (the woman, wife) la table (the table)
la jeune fi lle (the girl) la voiture (the car)
Many feminine nouns end in -e, but please don’t consider this a
general rule. The nouns in
the following list do not end in -e; however, they are
all feminine.
Most fi nal consonants are silent in French. In the list below, only the fi nal -r is sounded.
la chaleur (heat, warmth) la forêt (the forest)
la croix (the cross) la fourmi (the ant)
la distraction (the
amusement) la main (the hand)
la fl eur (the fl ower) la nuit (the night)
la fois (the time [occasion]) la radio (the radio)
Masculine and Feminine Articles Before a Vowel Sound
or Mute h
The definite article l’ is used before all
singular nouns, maculine and feminine,
starting with a vowel or a mute (non-aspirate) h. The -e or -a of the defi
nite article is dropped (elided). When the noun starts with h, pronounce the vowel that follows the h. Learn the gender (m. or f.) in parentheses
for each noun. When you begin to
attach adjectives to nouns, it will be easier to remember their gender.
l’ami (m.) the friend (m.) l’histoire (f.) the story, history
l’amie (f.) the friend (f.) l’homme (m.) the man
l’anglais (m.) English (language) l’hôtel (m.) the hotel
l’architecte (m. or f.) the architect l’île (f. ) the island
l’emploi (m.) the job l’orange (f.) the orange (fruit)
l’énergie (f.) energy l’université (f.) the university
l’enfant (m. or f.) the child (m. or f.) l’usine (f.) the factory
Singular Nouns and the Definite Article
The defi nite article indicates a specifi c person,
place, thing, or idea. It also precedes nouns that are used in a general sense.
C’est l’amie de ma mère. That’s (She’s) my
mother’s friend.
Les Français adorent le football The French love soccer and
et le cyclisme. cycling.
Remember: Le is used with masculine singular nouns
beginning with a consonant;
la is used with feminine singular nouns beginning with
a consonant; and l’ is used with both masculine and feminine
singular nouns beginning with a vowel and for most nouns beginning with the
letter h.
The Initial Letter h
The letter h is always silent in French. Words starting with the
letter h—
l’homme, for example—are pronounced beginning with
the fi rst vowelsound. This is called a mute h.
However, in front of some French words
starting with h, for historical reasons, the article does not elide the -e or -a. For example:
la *harpe the harp la *honte shame
le *héros the hero le *hors-d’oeuvre the
appetizer
This is called an aspirate h. This h is also
a silent letter; it is not pronounced. French dictionaries show the aspirate h with a diacritical mark. In this book, words beginning with an
aspirate h are indicated by an asterisk (*).
Learning the Gender of Nouns
Gender is linked to the noun word, rarely to the physical thing or the person.
Always learn the gender of a noun with its article: le livre (the
book), la fenêtre (the
window). Genders of nouns starting
with a vowel need to be memorized separately: l’âge (m.) (age), l’hôtel (m.) (the hotel), l’horloge (f.) (the
clock).
Several rules can help you guess if a French noun is
masculine or feminine:
• Nouns that refer to males are usually masculine; nouns that refer to
females are usually feminine: l’homme (m.) (the man); la femme (the
woman).
• The ending of a
noun can be a clue to its gender. Here are some common
masculine
and feminine endings. Be aware of cognate nouns, which are
close
to English in spelling and meaning.
Masculine Feminine
-eau le
bureau, le château -ence la
différence, l’existence
-isme le
tourisme, l’idéalisme -ie la tragédie, la compagnie
-ment le
moment, le département -ion la
nation, la fonction
-té l’université, la diversité
-ude l’attitude, la solitude
-ure la
littérature, l’ouverture
Watch out for exceptions: l’eau (f.) (water), la peau (skin), le silence
(silence).
• Nouns adopted from
other languages are usually masculine: le jogging,
le tennis, le jazz, le basket-ball. Exception: la pizza.
• Some nouns
referring to people indicate gender by their ending. The
feminine
form often ends in -e.
l’Allemand the German (m.) l’Allemande the German (f.)
l’Américain the American (m.) l’Américaine the American
(f.)
l’ami the friend (m.) l’amie the friend (f.)
l’étudiant the student (m.) l’étudiante the student (f.)
le Français the Frenchman la Française the Frenchwoman
Note that fi nal d, n, s, and t are silent in the
masculine form, as in the
examples above. When followed by -e in the
feminine form, d, n, s, and
t are pronounced.
• Some nouns that
end in -e and the names of some professions have
only
one singular form, used to refer to both males and females. In this
case,
the article remains the same whether the actual person is male or
female.
l’auteur (m.) (the author) la personne (the person)
l’écrivain (m.) (the writer) le professeur (the teacher, professor)
l’ingénieur (m.) (the engineer) la sentinelle (the guard, watchman)
le médecin (the physician) la victime (the victim)
• For certain nouns
referring to people, the gender of the individual is sometimes indicated by the article alone. Such nouns most often
end in -e; the spelling of the noun does not change when the
gender changes.
le journaliste/la journaliste
the journalist
le secrétaire/la secrétaire the secretary
le touriste/la touriste the tourist
In contemporary Canadian French and among some other French speakers,
you may also see or read a feminine form for a few traditional
professions (la
professeure, l’écrivaine, l’auteure). For
learners, however, it’s best to continue using the masculine forms of these
nouns to refer to both males and females.
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