1.3: Grammaire - présentation
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In French, a noun is always feminine or masculine. It is introduced by a determiner (for example: un, une, le, la), which usually indicates the gender of the noun.
When a noun refers to a person, the gender is determined by the person's sex (although some exceptions do exist).
In general, the feminine form of the noun is formed by adding an -e to the masculine noun. Note that the addition of the -e changes the pronunciation in some words:
un étudiant (masculin)
une étudiante (féminin)
There are cases when the feminine form of the noun changes more drastically :
un serveur (masculin)
une serveuse (féminin)
In general, when the masculine noun ends in -e, the feminine noun remains unchanged. Only the determiner or the context indicates if it is a feminine or masculine noun.
un secrétaire (masculin)
une secrétaire (féminin)
Practice saying the following pairs of words after your instructor, noticing the differences in pronunciation (if any):
| Masculin | Féminin |
| un ami (friend) | une amie |
| un gérant (manager) | une gérante |
| un Américain (American) | une Américaine |
The gender of nouns referring to things and abstractions is arbitrary. However, it can often be inferred from the ending of the word. Typically, words ending in -age, -ment, -eau, -phone, -scope, -isme are masculine and those ending in -tion, -sion, -té, -ette, -ance, -ence, -ie, -ure, -ode/-ade/-ude are feminine.
| Masculine endings | Feminine endings |
| le fromage (cheese) | la salade (salad, lettuce) |
| le monument (monument) | la fourchette (fork) |
| le sentiment (feeling) | la télévision (television) |
| le couteau (knife) | la culture (culture) |
| le téléphone (telephone) | la situation (situation) |
| le microscope (microscope) | la société (society) |
| le romantisme (romanticism) | la différence (difference) |
| la philosophie (philosophy) |
1. opportunisme 2. aviation 3. argument 4. tablette 5. garage
- Answer
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1. masculin 2. féminin 3. masculin 4. féminin 5. masculin
First, our own cool cats: Shasta and Sasha. You see them on the picture below. Second, famous French characters, such as Astérix and Obélix. They are two extraordinary Gaulish warriors from the most famous French comic book. You see them on the picture below.
Besides, many French and international celebrities, comic books characters, fairy tales characters and others are all going to unite their efforts to help you with French. Read their stories as they are going to frequently interact in your grammar activities.
This page is an adoptation of Francais Interactif. For more information, see the following link: