The generic division of words comes from Latin. There were three genders - male, female and neuter, as in Russian. Over time, the Romance languages lost the neuter gender, and only boys and girls remained. Of these, French, unfortunately, has the most confusing system for determining gender (its Latin half-brothers - Italian and Spanish - have succeeded a little more in this direction: at least there are a sufficient number of words with endings -o and -a, that corresponds to masculine and feminine genders, although exceptions and unclear cases also abound!). But despite the fact that, unfortunately, there is no universal, intuitive principle in the language, in order to alleviate our plight as a foreigner, let’s first try to write down in the table the suffix endings that can only be found in words of one kind or another. Let's say right away that some morphemes (say, -ment) guarantee gender in 100% of cases, some (like -ée or -eur) give us a hint about gender in most words frequently used in speech (well, there are rare exceptions learn).
Here, both nouns and adjectives are considered interspersed. This is done deliberately, since, firstly, in the French language one can easily transform into another (italien - Italian and Italian), and secondly, changes in the formation of feminine adjectives occur according to general grammatical-phonetic principles.
|
Masculine |
|
| -age |
le vitrage (glazing)(except plage, image, cage, page (page) and others, where -age part of the root) |
| -ard | le tard (late), le vieillard (old man) |
| -aire |
le salaire (salary), un anniversaire (anniversary) + un air (air), un éclair (lightning, sparkle). Note: the adjective nécessaire (necessary) has one form for fém./masc. (already with -e at the end) and the adjective clair/claire (light, clear) - two. |
| -eau | le manteau (coat), le gâteau (pie), BUT: eau (water) l.r., peau (skin) l.r. |
| -ème |
(words of Greek origin) le problème (problem), le poème (poem), le thème (topic), le système (system) |
| -gramme |
(the Greeks tried again) le télé gramme (telegram), le diagramme (diagram). BUT une é pigramme (epigram) f.r. |
| -isme | le socialisme (socialism), le tourisme (tourism) |
| -ment | le gouvernement (government) |
| -ot | le grelot (bell) |
| -on | le chaperon (hat, hood) |
|
Feminine |
|
| -ade | la façade (front side), la promenade (promenade) |
| -aie | la raie (between) |
| -aison | la comparaison (comparison), la raison (reason, argument) |
| -ance |
la connaissance (knowledge, cognition) |
| -esse | la vitesse (speed) |
| -ine | la marine (marine) |
| -ison | la guérison (recovery) |
| -itude | l’attitude (attitude; pose in ballet) |
| -oison | la cloison (partition), BUT poison (poison) - m.r. |
| -ose | l’hypnose (hypnosis), la chose (thing) |
| -sion | la commission (commission) |
| -tion | natation (swimming), révolution (revolution) |
| -ure | coiffure (hairstyle) confiture (jam) |
To the masculine in French include names of the days of the week(le lundi), months(le mars) and seasons(le printemps). In parallel, we note that with spring they say au printemps, and with the rest - en été, en automne, en hiver).
Usually, To masculine relate tree names- le sapin (spruce), le bouleau (birch), le tilleul (linden). Likewise names of metals- le fer (iron), le cuivre (copper), l’acier (steel), l’argent (silver, money). Exception: la fonte (cast iron). Also classified as masculine all names of parts of speech: un nom (noun), un adjectif (adjective), un verbe (verb). And here To feminine relate names of sciences la botanique (botany), la médecine (medicine), exception: le droit (law)
It should be especially noted that in the French language there is a series of abstract nouns with the suffix -eur, which relate to feminine- la douleur (pain), la chaleur (heat), la pâleur (pallor) etc.
A separate class consists of masculine words with the ending -il, which is read as: un fil (fiber, thread), un cil (eyelash, eyelash), un péril (danger), le brésil (logwood tree; Brazil), le grésil (hail ), un nombril (navel, in the last two words the final -l may or may not be readable) or not readable at all: un fusil (gun), un sourcil (eyebrow), le persil (parsley; note that faire son persil has a slang meaning - prostitute)
Now let’s look at the masculine-feminine pair endings that are similar in shape. At a minimum, they will allow us to understand gender in writing.
Table of pairs of endings that give masculine and feminine genders, respectively.
| male | female | ||
| -ail | le travail (work) | -aille | la trouvaille (find) |
| -oux | le roux (red-haired), le jaloux (jealous) | -ouse | la jalouse (jealous, envious) |
| -al | le journal (newspaper) | -ale | la morale (morality), BUT - le scandale(scandal) m.r. |
| -é | le fiancé (groom), as well as a number of exceptions: le lycée (lyceum), le musée (museum), le trophée (trophy) - m.r. | -ee | la soirée (party), as well as words starting with -té: une université (university) and the word la dictée |
| -eil | le soleil (sun) | -eille | la pareille (equal, in relation to a woman) |
| -el | l’actuel (modern era; actual) | -elle | la poubelle (urn) |
| -en | l'italien (Italian) | -enne | l'italienne (Italian) |
| -er | l'étranger (foreigner) | -ère | l'étrangère (foreigner) |
| -et | le cabaret (zucchini, cabaret) | -ette | la trompette (trumpet) |
| -eur | le chanteur (singer) | -euse | la vendeuse (saleswoman) |
| -i | le mari (husband) | -ie | la pâtisserie (cake; pastry shop) |
| -il | special use (see note) | -ille | la fille (daughter) |
| -is | le paradis (paradise) | -ise | la bêtise (stupidity) |
| -ier | le premier (first) | -ière | la première (first) |
|
-oir (-oire) |
le soir (evening), le conservatoire (conservative) | -oire | (except for -toire, which are m.p.) la poire (pear) |
| -on | le mignon (darling) | -onne | la mignonne (cute) |
| -teur | le directeur (director) | -trice | l'actrice (actress) |
| -u | un inconnu (stranger) | -ue | la rue (street) |
Friends, have you always wanted to know something about a noun in French? Or do you want to enrich your vocabulary with new noun words and find out what nouns are in the French language? Perhaps you want to study the suffixes that form a French noun? If you are interested in all these questions, then welcome to our website!
Today we will talk about the noun in French - le nom or le substantif. We will try to talk about the noun in as much detail and clearly as possible and answer the most popular questions on this topic.
The functions and meaning of a French noun are in many ways similar to a Russian noun, so there won’t be any particular difficulties here. But as for the formation of French nouns, here you should arm yourself with a pen and notebook and write down what interests you. So, let's start analyzing the French noun!
What does a noun mean in French?
Everything here is quite simple and clear. As in Russian, a noun in French means:
- Animated objects (objets animés): un chien – dog
- Inanimate objects (objets inanimés): un mur – wall
- Abstract (notions abstracts): une silence - silence
- Action: un cri – scream
- Quality (qualité): une intelligence - mind
- Substance: du sucre – sugar
The structure of a French noun can be simple or complex. Compound nouns can be written in one word (un portemonnaie - a purse) or in several words with a hyphen (un timbre-poste - a postage stamp).
In a sentence, a noun can be a subject, a nominal part of a predicate, a direct or indirect object, an application, an address, or an adverbial clause.
Common nounsFrench nouns are divided into the following groups (the same groups can be observed in Russian):
- Common nouns (noms communs): une maison – house
- Own (noms propres): Lilie - Lily, Paris - Paris
- Animated (noms animés): une mère – mother
- Inanimate (noms inanimés): une voiture – machine
- Specific (noms concrets): une herbe - grass
- Abstract (noms abstrits): un amour – love
- Subject (noms-objets): un stylo – pen
- Noms–substances: du sel – salt
- Noms uniques: le soleil – the sun
- Collective (noms collectifs): un peuple – people, people
Proper nouns in French, as in Russian, are written with a capital letter. These are first and last names, names of cities, countries, streets, companies, institutions, brands, historical periods or events, etc.
A few words about the feminine gender...
On our website we discussed in detail the topic of feminine nouns in French. Therefore, we will not dwell on this in detail here. We just want to remind you of the special feminine forms of some French nouns:
- Un père – une mère (father – mother);
- Un mari – une femme (husband – wife);
- Un homme – une femme (man – woman);
- Un oncle – une tante (uncle – aunt);
- Un garçon – une fille / une fillette (boy – girl);
- Un frère – une soeur (brother – sister);
- Un roi – une reine (king – queen);
- Un copain - une copine (friend - friend);
- Un serviteur – une servante (servant – maid);
- Un neveu – une nièce (nephew – niece);
- Un vieillard – une vieille (old man – old woman);
- Un héros – une héroïne (hero – heroine);
- Un coq – une poule (rooster – hen);
- Un étalon – une jument (stallion – mare);
- Un gendre – une bru (son-in-law – daughter-in-law);
- Un duc – une duchesse (duke – duchess);
- Un docteur – une doctoresse (doctor – female doctor);
- Un bouc – une chèvre (goat – goat);
- Un jars – une oie (goose – goose);
- Un lièvre – une hase (hare – hare);
- Un parrain – une marraine (godfather – godmother);
- Un Dieu – une déesse (God – Goddess);
- Un pair – une pairesse (peer – female peer);
- Un bélier – une brebis (ram – sheep);
- Un empereur – une impératrice (emperor – empress);
- Un fils – une fille (son – daughter);
- Un cerf – une biche (deer – female deer);
- Un verrat – une truie (boar – pig).
As for professions, in French there are only masculine professions. If we need to indicate that this is a woman, it looks like this:
- Un médecin – une femme médecin: doctor – woman doctor
But since 2000 it is allowed to write like this:
- Une auteur – female author
- Une chirurgienne – female surgeon
- Une magistrate – female magistrate
- Une médecin – female doctor
- Une écrivaine - writer
- Une ingénieure – a woman engineer
- Une maire – female mayor
- Une professeure - teacher
- Une ministere – a woman minister
- Une peintre – artist
Also, in French there are nouns that have two genders, but one form. Accordingly, their meaning varies depending on the gender. These nouns to remember:
- Un aigle – une aigle (eagle – standard);
- Un aide - une aide (helper - help);
- Un vase - une vase (vase - mud);
- Un page – une page (page – page);
- Un voile – une voile (cover – sail);
- Un critique – une crtitique (critic – criticism);
- Un manche - une manche (handle - sleeve);
- Un poêle – une poêle (oven – frying pan);
- Un mousse – une mousse (cabin – moss);
- Un moule – une moule (shape – mussel);
- Un cache – une cache (carbon copy – cache);
- Un cartouche - une cartouche (cartouche or frame in the drawing - cartridge);
- Un enseigne – une enseigne (naval lieutenant – sign);
- Un faune - une faune (faun - fauna);
- Un gîte – une gîte (housing – the list of the ship);
- Un mémoire – une mémoire (written work – memory);
- Un solde - une solde (balance, account balance - salary);
- Un vapeur – une vapeur (steamer – steam);
- Un manœuvre – une manœuvre (handyman – maneuver).
What does a French noun mean: examples of meanings Suffixes that form nouns
So, let's turn our attention to the suffixes with which nouns are formed in French. To begin with, the suffixes of masculine nouns:
- – age:un bavardage (chatter). BUT une rage (rage), une page (page), une cage (cell), une plage (beach), une image (picture);
- – eau:un chapeau (hat). BUT une peau (skin);
- – on:un mouton (lamb, lamb). BUT une leçon (lesson), une façon (style), une chanson (song);
- – oir:un tiroir (drawer);
- – isme:un mécanisme (mechanism);
- – ment:un gouvernement (government);
- – gramme:un kilogramme (kilogram);
- – ail:un travail (work);
- – ain:un refrain (chorus);
- – er:un boucher (butcher);
- – ard:un vieillard (old man);
- – as:un matelas (mattress);
- – at:un goujat (boorish);
- – et:un paquet (package);
- – ier:un cerisier (cherry tree);
- – in:un boudin (spiral);
- – teur:un interpréteur (performer);
- – is: un iris (iris).
In addition to the above, remember that all seasons, days of the week, months, names of trees, metals and languages are all masculine. Also, the following nouns are expressed in the masculine gender:
- un abîme – abyss
- un sulfamide – sulfamide
- un en-tête – form
- un planisphère – planisphere
- un armistice - truce
- un svastika - swastika
- un éclair – lightning
- un équinoxe – equinox
- un tentacule - tentacle
- un effluve – fluid
- un haltère – dumbbell
- un élastique – clothing elastic
- un intervalle – interval
- un emplâtre – plaster
- un metéore – meteor
- un alveole – alveolus
- un antidote - antidote
- un emblème - emblem
- un hemisphere – hemisphere
- un tubercule – tuber
- un iris – iris
- un obélisque – obelisk
- un ventricule - ventricle of the heart
- un petale – petal
And now the suffixes of feminine nouns:
- – té:une santé (health);
- – ité:une fraternité (brotherhood);
- – tion/sion/xion:une libération (liberation);
- – ade:une estrade (elevation);
- – aille:une volaille (poultry);
- – eille:une oreille (ear);
- – tude: une negritude (blackness);
- – ette: une fourchette (fork); BUT un squelette (skeleton);
- – erie: une parfumerie (perfumery);
- – esse: une politesse (politeness);
- – ance/ – ence: une absence (absence); BUT un silence (silence);
- – ure: une structure (structure);
- – aine: une dizaine (ten);
- – aison: une livraison (delivery);
- – ande: une réprimande (reprimand);
- – ée:une année (year); BUT un lycée (lyceum), un musée (museum);
- – ie/aie:une maladie (illness); BUT un incendie (fire);
- – ise:une surprise (surprise);
- – eur: denotes quality une chaleur (heat); BUT un bonheur – un malheur (happiness – misfortune), un honneur (honor) and un labeur (hard work);
- – trice:une directrice (direction line).
The following nouns are only feminine:
- une dartre - ringworm
- une stalactite - stalactite
- une oriflamme - banner - military banner
- une interview - interview
- une metéorite - meteorite
- une éphéméride – tear-off calendar
- une écumoire – slotted spoon
- une algèbre – algebra
- une appendicite - appendicitis
- une amibe - amoeba
- une acoustique - acoustics
- une amnistie - amnesty
- une écritoire – writing instrument
- une acne - acne on the face, pimple
- une anicroche – hitch, obstacle
- une épithète – epithet
- une espèce – kind of animal
- une escarre – scab
- une oasis - oasis
- une caténaire – contact network
Proper nouns As for the plural of French nouns, we discussed it in detail in a special article. Let us just briefly recall that the plural is usually formed with the ending –s: un ami (friend) – des amis (friends).
If in the singular a noun has the ending –s, -x, -z, then in the plural it remains the same: un nez (nose) – des nez (noses).
If a singular noun ends in –au, -eau, -eu, then in the plural the ending –s is added: un jeu (game) – des jeux (games).
This is what it is - a noun in French. We hope you found a lot of useful information in this lesson. See you again!
The French language has two genders of nouns: masculine and feminine. There is no neuter gender, unlike some languages that also belong to the Germanic-Romance group, for example German, and the gender of a French noun does not always coincide with the gender of a noun in Russian:
The feminine gender of a French noun is expressed in several ways.
Firstly, the simplest way, in French, a noun is accompanied by an article expressing its grammatical categories and one of them is gender.
In the singular the definite article:
masculine: (le-) le livre;
feminine: (la-) la balle.
In the singular the indefinite article:
masculine: (un-) un livre;
feminine: (une-) une pomme.
partial article:
masculine: (du-) du pain;
feminine: (de la-) de la viande.
Thus, with the help of one article we can determine what gender a noun belongs to, and if the noun ends in - e in the masculine gender, we look at the article:
un élève - une élève;
Un secretaire une secretaire.
Secondly, the most common form of forming the feminine gender of a French noun occurs by adding the masculine ending –e to the noun.
Note that adding -e to a noun that ends in a vowel does not change the pronunciation of the word:
un ami – une amie.
But when a noun ends in a consonant, adding -e makes the final consonant unpronounceable:
un étudiant – une étudiante.
That is, when forming the feminine gender of a noun, some changes in pronunciation may occur.
In the case of nouns ending in -in, -ain, and the incredibly large number of French nouns ending in –an, the final nasal sound disappears altogether:
un voisin – une voisin;
un Roumain – une Roumain;
un partisan - une partisan.
French nouns ending in -er, -ier in the masculine gender have the form ending in –ère, -ière in the feminine gender:
un étranger – une étrangère;
un ouvrier - une ouvrière.
If the ending –e is added, it is likely that the final consonant of the masculine noun may change. For example, f goes to v and x goes to s[z]:
un sportif - une sportive;
un époux - une épouse.
The consonant is doubled in nouns ending in -ien, -en, -on, as well as in the noun paysan:
un musicien - une musicienne;
un Européen - une Européenne;
un patron - une patronne;
un paysan - une paysanne.
Thirdly, nouns ending in –teur change this suffix in the feminine gender to –trice, that is, we are talking about a special feminine suffix:
un acteur - une actrice;
un dessinateur - une dessinatrice;
un lecteur – une lectrice;
le directeur – la directrice.
The suffix –eur of a masculine noun changes in the feminine to –euse:
un voyageur - un voyageuse.
Some nouns take the feminine suffix –esse, for example:
un maître – une maîtrresse.
Fourthly, using special words:
un home – une femme;
un frère – une soeur.
Fifthly, a number of words have only a masculine form. This especially applies to names of professions. For example, the following French nouns are used only in the masculine gender: un témoin; un defenseur; un amateur; un possesseur.
To form the feminine form in such cases, for clarification it is necessary to use the word femme before the name of the profession:
C'est une femme médecin.
In difficult situations, to clarify the gender of the noun, you should look in the dictionary.
And we'll find out how to determine the gender of nouns in French. In French there are only 2 kinds of nouns: masculine and feminine. Unlike the Russian language, there is no neuter gender in the French language. The gender of nouns in French is usually denoted by articles: definite – le, la, les, or uncertain – un,une,des. Thus, the first step has been taken - you can determine what gender a particular noun belongs to when reading a text or listening to the speech of your interlocutor, focusing on articles in French. But what to do when you need to write the text yourself or say something yourself? How can you determine the gender of nouns in French if these are new words for you? To do this, there are several simple rules, once you get acquainted with them, you can easily use nouns correctly in speech, making your French varied and beautiful.
| Masculine gender in French | Feminine in French |
| How to determine the gender of a noun in French by ending(these rules apply in most cases, but not always!) | |
|
-ail le travail(Job) le vitrail(stained glass) -al le journal(newspaper) le cheval(horse) -age le fromage(cheese) le garage(garage) -ège le collège(college) le manège(carousel) -isme l'optimisme(optimism) le racism(racism) -on le glaçon(icicle) le jeton(token) |
-ade la salade(salad) la promenade(walk) -aison la maison(house) la comparaison(comparison) -ée la journée(day) lacuillere e(anything in a spoon) -ette la cigarette(cigarette) la baguette(long loaf) -té la santé(health) la beauty(beauty) -ion * l'addition(addition; counting) la solution(solution) -ique * la politique(policy) l'informatique(Informatics) * - all nouns with such endings are feminine |
| How to determine the gender of a noun in French by meaning(these rules apply in most cases, but have their exceptions) | |
|
|
In addition to these rules, you also need to know that in French there are ways to form feminine nouns from corresponding masculine nouns by adding endings or suffixes to them.
1. Adding the unpronounceable –e: un étudiant → une étudiante(student → female student)
In this case, the unpronounceable final consonant " t" in a masculine noun begins to be pronounced in a feminine noun.
2. In some cases, adding an unpronounceable –e causes phonetic and grammatical changes:
A) n→nn un Parisien → une Parisien e(Parisian → Parisian)
t→tt un chat →une chatt e(cat → cat)
b) f → ve un serf → une serve(serf→serf)
V) x → se un époux → une épouse(spouse → spouse)
3. Feminine nouns are formed by changing suffixes:
A) er → ère un berger→ une bergère(shepherd → shepherdess)
b) ier→ ière un ouvrier → une ouvrière(worker → female worker)
V) eur → euse un chanteur → une chanteuse(singer → singer)
G) teur → trice un acteur → une actrice(actor → actress)
There are some exceptions to the general rules:
Nouns ending in silent –e, have the same form in masculine and feminine: un élève – une élève(student - student)
A number of nouns (usually names of professions) do not have a feminine form at all: un écrivan(writer), un medecin(doctor)
In the next article we will continue our study of the French language and look at the gender of adjectives in French.
When learning French, students may have difficulty determining the gender of a noun. The fact is that in French nouns have two genders: masculine and feminine. Consequently, many words have a gender different from the Russian language, because, as we know, Russian has 3 genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). The problem of gender distribution in French arises. For example, the word “table” is feminine in French, but masculine in Russian. What to do in this situation? How to determine what gender a noun has in French? What is the best way to remember the gender of nouns? Let's try to understand these issues.
In fact, there is a way out: you need to master French suffixes, thanks to which you can determine what gender a French noun has. If you memorize French suffixes, then you will not need to memorize the gender of all nouns that you encounter in the process of learning the language. When you see a word, you can determine what gender it is.
So, masculine suffixes in French:
— age(le fromage, l'ouvrage). Exceptions: la cage, la page, la plage, la rage, la nage, l’image;
—ail(le travail, le corail);
— al(le canal, le végétal);
—ament(le medicine, le testament);
—ard(le cafard, l'épinard);
—as(l'atlas, le bras);
- at(le plat, le syndicat);
— eau(le bureau, le chapeau). Exception: la peau;
— eil(le vermeil, le soleil);
— ement(le bâtiment, le département);
— et(le brevet, le cabaret);
—euil(le fauteuil, le deuil);
— gramme(le kilogramme, le program). Exception: une epigramme;
— ier(le clavier, le fermier);
—er(le boucher);
— in(le matin, le boudin);
— is(le permis, le soucis);
— isme(l'optimisme, l'humanisme);
— oir(le miroir, le couloir);
— on(le cordon, le fourgon). Exceptions: la leçon, la façon;
Also, in French, the following nouns are masculine:
1. days of the week (le jeudi, le samedi);
2. names of the months (le février, le juin);
3. seasons (l’hiver, le printemps);
4. names of languages (le français, le russe);
5. names of trees (le pin, le frêne);
6. names of metals (le fer, le cuivre). Exception: la fonte - cast iron;
7. names of parts of speech and grammatical categories (le nom, le genre). Exceptions: la conjonction, la préposition, l’interjection, la personne, la voix;
8. names of some professions (un écrivain, un médecin, un architecte, un chauffeur, un maire, un auteur, un professeur, un témoin, un chef d’orchestre).
At first glance, it seems that there are a lot of suffixes and rules. But, if you make a little effort, then determining the gender of nouns in French will no longer be a problem for you. And in the next article you will be able to familiarize yourself with the features of feminine suffixes.