Nouns and gender

Every French noun has a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine. There's no neuter, and there's no reliable way to know a noun's gender just by looking at it — you must learn the gender along with the word. This affects articles, adjectives, pronouns, and past participles throughout the language. Getting gender wrong won't prevent understanding, but it will immediately mark you as a learner.

The two genders

French uses "le" for masculine nouns and "la" for feminine nouns. When referring to nouns in conversation or writing, you'll constantly choose between these forms. The good news: pronunciation often stays the same (le/la sound similar), so you have time to think:

Gender	Definite article	Example
Masculine	le	le livre (the book)
Feminine	la	la maison (the house)

Before vowels or silent "h", both become l':

• l'homme (the man) — masculine
• l'école (the school) — feminine

Predicting gender

While French gender often seems arbitrary, word endings provide useful clues. These patterns work about 80% of the time — not perfect, but enough to make educated guesses. When in doubt, learn the article with the noun:

Masculine patterns

Nouns are usually masculine (le) if they:

Pattern	Examples
End in -age	le voyage (trip), le fromage (cheese)
End in -ment	le gouvernement, le moment
End in -eau	le bureau (office), le gâteau (cake)
End in -isme	le tourisme, le journalisme
End in -ier	le papier (paper), le métier (job)
Are days, months, seasons	le lundi, le janvier, le printemps
Are languages	le français, l'anglais
Are trees	le chêne (oak), le pin (pine)

Feminine patterns

Nouns are usually feminine (la) if they:

Pattern	Examples
End in -tion/-sion	la nation, la télévision
End in -té/-ité	la liberté, la université
End in -ure	la nature, la voiture (car)
End in -ence/-ance	la patience, la France
End in -ie	la philosophie, la vie (life)
End in -ette	la cigarette, la fourchette (fork)
End in -ée	la journée (day), l'idée (idea)
Are sciences	la physique, la chimie

Common exceptions

Noun	Gender	Note
le problème	masculine	Despite ending in -e
le silence	masculine	Despite -ence ending
la plage	feminine	Despite -age ending
la page	feminine	Despite -age ending
la main	feminine	"hand"
le musée	masculine	Despite -ée ending

Plural forms

Forming plurals in French is generally straightforward — add -s to the noun. However, the final -s is almost always silent, so you hear the difference through the article (le vs les), not the noun itself. Some endings have special rules:

Definite articles

Singular	Plural
le, la, l'	les

Examples:

• le livre → les livres
• la maison → les maisons
• l'ami → les amis

Forming plurals

Rule	Singular	Plural
Add -s (most nouns)	le chat	les chats
-eau/-au → -eaux/-aux	le bureau	les bureaux
-al → -aux	le journal	les journaux
-s, -x, -z → no change	le fils	les fils
-ou → -ous (mostly)	le trou	les trous
Some -ou → -oux	le genou	les genoux

Note: The final -s is usually silent. You hear the difference through the article: le chat vs les chats.

Indefinite articles

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	un	des (some)
Feminine	une	des (some)

Examples:

• un livre — a book
• une table — a table
• des livres — (some) books
• des tables — (some) tables

Partitive articles

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l', des) express "some" or an unspecified quantity. English often omits this ("I want bread"), but French requires it ("Je veux du pain"). These are essential for talking about food, drinks, and abstract concepts:

Gender	Partitive	Example
Masculine	du	du pain (some bread)
Feminine	de la	de la viande (some meat)
Before vowel	de l'	de l'eau (some water)
Plural	des	des légumes (some vegetables)

After negation, all become de/d':

• J'ai du pain. → Je n'ai pas de pain.
• J'ai des amis. → Je n'ai pas **d'**amis.

Adjective agreement

French adjectives change form to match the noun's gender and number. This is different from English where adjectives stay the same ("the red book", "the red books"). In French, you must modify the adjective each time based on what it describes:

Basic pattern

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
petit	petite	small
grand	grande	big
français	française	French

Plural

Add -s to both masculine and feminine forms:

• petits, petites
• grands, grandes

Special patterns

Masculine	Feminine	Pattern
heureux	heureuse	-eux → -euse
sportif	sportive	-if → -ive
ancien	ancienne	-ien → -ienne
bon	bonne	-on → -onne
blanc	blanche	-c → -che
beau	belle	irregular
nouveau	nouvelle	irregular
vieux	vieille	irregular

Adjective placement

French adjective placement differs from English. Most adjectives come after the noun ("une voiture rouge" = "a car red"), which takes practice for English speakers. However, a common group of short, frequent adjectives comes before the noun. Learning this distinction is essential for natural-sounding French.

After the noun (most adjectives)

• un livre intéressant — an interesting book
• une voiture rouge — a red car
• une personne intelligente — an intelligent person

Before the noun (BANGS adjectives)

Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size:

Type	Examples
Beauty	beau, joli (pretty)
Age	jeune (young), vieux, nouveau
Number	premier, deuxième, dernier
Goodness	bon, mauvais, gentil (nice)
Size	grand, petit, gros (fat), long

Examples:

• une belle maison — a beautiful house
• un jeune homme — a young man
• le premier jour — the first day
• une bonne idée — a good idea
• un petit chat — a small cat

Meaning changes with position

Before noun	After noun
un grand homme (great man)	un homme grand (tall man)
mon ancien professeur (former teacher)	une maison ancienne (old house)
mon propre bureau (my own office)	un bureau propre (a clean office)
le pauvre homme (poor/pitiful man)	un homme pauvre (financially poor)
un certain charme (a certain charm)	une victoire certaine (a sure victory)

Common nouns by category

People

French	Gender	English
l'homme	m	man
la femme	f	woman
l'enfant	m/f	child
le garçon	m	boy
la fille	f	girl
l'ami(e)	m/f	friend
la famille	f	family
les parents	m	parents

Things

French	Gender	English
la maison	f	house
l'appartement	m	apartment
la table	f	table
la chaise	f	chair
le lit	m	bed
la porte	f	door
la fenêtre	f	window
le livre	m	book

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