How to use genders and articles in French
Every noun in French is either masculine or feminine. 鈥
The word you use for a or the depends on whether it鈥檚 with a masculine or feminine noun.鈥
For a feminine noun une means a and la means the:
une banane, la banane. 鈥
For a masculine noun un means a and le means _the_鈥:
un portable, le portable. 鈥
And if you have more than one thing then the le or la become les: 鈥
鈥les pommes. 鈥
You do have to learn the genders of words. But there are some patterns which will help you.鈥
鈥la m猫re - mother and le p猫re - father. 鈥
The gender of the word is the same as the gender of the person.鈥
Nearly all words borrowed from English like le week-end and 濒鈥橧苍迟别谤苍别迟 are also masculine鈥 鈥
Words ending in -ment like 濒鈥檃辫辫补谤迟别尘别苍迟 are masculine.鈥
Words ending in -sion like la t茅l茅vision are all feminine.
Words ending in -ure - like voiture are also feminine: 鈥
鈥巐a voiture.
It is important to know if something is le or la masculine or feminine 鈥巃nd with these tips you can make a start.鈥
What is grammatical 鈥榞ender鈥?鈥
All French nouns have a grammatical gender - they are either masculine or feminine. It鈥檚 鈥巌mportant to learn the gender of a word as you go along.
With masculine words, use le (the) or un (a/an) and with feminine words, use la (the) or une 鈥庘(a/an). With plural words, use les (the) or des (some). With all words that start with a vowel 鈥巓r 鈥h鈥, use 濒鈥, regardless of whether it鈥檚 a masculine or feminine noun.鈥
How do you know if a word is masculine or feminine?鈥
With some words, it is easy to know whether they are masculine or feminine, because 鈥巘hey describe male or female people.鈥
- le p猫re - father
- la m猫re - mother
All female family members are feminine and all male family members are masculine.鈥
To know whether other nouns are masculine or feminine, consider the following rules, 鈥巄ut remember there are often exceptions to the rules.鈥
Words that end in the following letters are often masculine:鈥
| ending | example | exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| 鈥-补驳别 | le visage鈥 (face) | la page (page), 濒鈥檌mage (image) |
| 鈥-尘别苍迟 | un appartement 鈥庘赌(补辫补谤迟尘别苍迟)鈥 | |
| 鈥-别补耻 | le g芒teau (肠补办别)鈥 | 濒鈥檈au (飞补迟别谤)鈥 |
| 鈥-颈蝉尘别 | le racisme (谤补肠颈蝉尘)鈥 | |
| 鈥-颈苍 | 鈥巐e jardin鈥 (garden)鈥 | la fin (别苍诲)鈥 |
A lot of 鈥榥ew鈥 French words, which often come from English, are masculine:鈥
- Internet is masculine (although it never has an article) eg: 闯鈥檃颈尘别 passer du temps 鈥巗ur Internet - I like spending time on the internet.鈥
- le week-end - weekend
- le sandwich - sandwich
Words that end in the following letters are often feminine:鈥
| ending | example | exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| 鈥-sion / -tion | la t茅l茅vision (television) la 鈥巒atation (蝉飞颈尘尘颈苍驳)鈥 | |
| 鈥-耻谤别 | la voiture (肠补谤)鈥 | |
| 鈥-茅别 | une ann茅e鈥 (year) | le mus茅e鈥 (museum), le lyc茅e 鈥庘(high school) |
| 鈥-别谤颈别 | la boulangerie (产补办别谤测)鈥 | |
| 鈥-迟茅 | la qualit茅 (辩耻补濒颈迟测)鈥 |
How do you form plurals?鈥
To turn most French nouns into plurals, you need to add an 鈥s鈥 to the end of the word. 鈥嶶se les (the) or des (some) with plural nouns:鈥
- le p猫re - les p猫res (father - fathers)鈥
- une table - des tables (a table - some tables)鈥
With some nouns, the endings change slightly when they become plural.鈥
Words ending in -eau and -ou usually have an 鈥x鈥 when they become plural:鈥
- le g芒teau - les g芒teaux (cake - cakes)鈥
- un chou - des choux (a cabbage - some cabbages)鈥
If a word ends in -al, you normally take off the 鈥l鈥 and add 鈥ux鈥 to make it plural:鈥
- un animal - des animaux (an animal - some animals)鈥
Some words are completely different in the singular and plural:鈥
- 濒鈥櫯搃l - les yeux (eye - eyes)鈥
However, some words, particularly ones that end in -s, -z or -x, don鈥檛 change when they 鈥巄ecome plural.鈥
- le jus - les jus (juice - juices)鈥
- un nez - des nez (a nose - some noses)鈥
- la voix - les voix (voice - voices)鈥
Definite articles and when to use them
The definite article is the word the. There are three words for the in French, depending on 鈥巜hether a word is masculine, feminine or plural.鈥
| masculine | feminine | plural (masculine and feminine) |
|---|---|---|
| le | la | les |
The definite article is used a lot more in French than it is in English. Here are some 鈥巈xamples of where you use the definite article in French, where it is not needed in 鈥嶦nglish.鈥
After aimer (to like) or 诲茅迟别蝉迟别谤 (to hate):鈥
- 闯鈥檃颈尘别 les chats - I like cats.鈥
- Ma m猫re d茅teste les oignons - My mum hates onions.鈥
Talking about things in general:鈥
- Les chiens sont super - Dogs are great.鈥
- Le lundi, je vais chez mes grands-parents - On Mondays, I go to my grandparents鈥 鈥巋ouse.鈥
With school subjects:鈥
- 闯鈥櫭﹖耻诲颈别 les maths - I鈥檓 studying maths.鈥
- Mon copain voudrait apprendre le 蹿谤补苍莽补颈蝉 - My friend would like to learn French.鈥
Indefinite articles and when to use them
The words for 鈥榓/an鈥 and 鈥榮ome鈥 change in French, depending on whether the noun is 鈥巑asculine or feminine.鈥
| masculine | feminine | plural (masculine and feminine) |
|---|---|---|
| un | une | des |
The indefinite article is used very similarly in French and English:鈥
- Je voudrais un hamburger - I would like a hamburger.鈥
- Tu as une armoire dans ta chambre ? - Do you have a wardrobe in your bedroom?鈥
- Ma s艙ur mange des fraises - My sister is eating (some) strawberries.鈥
Quiz
Find out how much you know about genders and articles in French in this short quiz.
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