Why do some languages have gendered nouns, while others don’t? Choose the right one for you and you’ll get them right a vast majority of the time. This sounds like a great strategy. In French for instance we call that modern marvel The Eiffel Tower “La Tour Eiffel”. In alphabetical order, the regions are: Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Bretagne (Brittany), Bourgogne-Franche-Comte (Burgundy-Free County), Corse (Corsica), Centre-Val de Loire (Center-Loire Valley), Grand Est (Grand East), Hauts-de-France (Upper … That idea is valid for learning and bettering any language, be it one’s mother tongue or a foreign language. As a French high school teacher, I teach my students the above simple rule, and they know this is a “high percentage” guess — (high likelihood of being correct) — to use if they aren’t sure of the gender of a new noun. Adjectives don’t have a gender as such, but their ending depends on the gender of the noun they describe. We all use a very small portion of even our native language in everyday life. For instance, I used to babysit a little French boy who loved to sing the  French lullaby “Au Clair de la lune”. One easy way to keep up what you’ve learned about genders in French is to choose a word, guess if it’s masculine or feminine, then look it up online or in a print dictionary to check if you’re right. Interestingly, while we tend to think of English as a language without genders, that’s not completely true. Here, for instance, is the verb aller conjugated in the passé composé: Je suis allé(e) Most of the animals, It’s just a outstanding (and handful) pattern, but the right way is to memorize. I don’t know why I wrote that. most have slightly large eyes and quite a bit of definition in their noses and brows. It’s really uncomfortable!). Most words with other endings are masculine. Ex. Sharp as For Example. The gender of an inanimate object sounds like an impossibility to an English speaker but as is the case in the English “an igloo” vs “a house made of ice” it is not about the object but about the word chosen for that object. This is also true for other compound tenses. If you hear or see a word with its article enough, or hear/see it used with adjectives, you’ll become accustomed to it being associated with a gender. Pay attention when you watch, read, and listen to French. The face is the first thing that catches the attention of a passer by, friend or foe. From rule above, maybe there is way to simplify it, all endings with ‘e’ are feminine +90%, Things to remember: As with majority of the French adjectives, there is a masculine and feminine form for most of the names of nationalities. Many other professions can now also be feminized, since the concept has been officially recognized by the Académie Française (a ruling that was only made in 2019). To remember the genders in nouns very well, I address objects and food as he or she or he/she if it’s a neuter. Read 13 common French mistakes that’ll make you feel awkward before you use this adjective. There’s a sad little trick to the French language regarding gender: No matter how many feminine nouns you have, if there’s just one masculine one, it takes precedence. While reading this, I simply realized there is an easier way to tell masculine from feminine nous: by checking on your list, I saw that 90% of all feminine words end with a voyelle! To us, that seems very logical. It should be noted that the masculine singular form of the adjectives is listed (except for pretty, which is normally used to describe women). Luckily, French law today considers male and female citizens equal, with equal rights. Good news – there’s a plural “the” (les), but it stays the same for groups/things of either gender. I made a wrong example, writing in English instead of French language, but still I think it shows the meaning that I wanted explain. It’s 1 error out of every 5 nouns spoken. You learn french vocabulary if you want to know the gender of nouns in french. Another bit of good news: As with les, the plural form of “a” in French, des, stays the same whether you’re using it with masculine or feminine nouns. Interestingly, this isn’t the case in all forms of French. Can you give examples? I got used to associating the nouns in the song with the words around them that signified their gender. On the other hand, it is at least consistent – a letter always signifies the same sound. -té: la santé, la bonté; Do the French really don't take showers? If you would like to describe their personality, there is a separate lesson for that. I am incredibly grateful, thank you. I know this is beside the point but I find people that “sound like foreigners” to be very charming! -ité: la cité, la vélocité, la vérité; Féminins are different. Associating each noun with such a vivid image helps you remember its gender more easily. Claire, Donald, Céline, Christine, et Roger were all tired. “Un musée”. This blond Basque was rufous and freckled in childhood; his curly hair and facial features give him an Irish appearance. Plural French Subject Pronouns Nous Vous Ils Elles, French Vocabulary: Jewelry and Accessories, French Vocabulary Lesson: Quantities, Weights, and Measures, French Vocabulary Guide: Parts of the Body, How to Distinguish Between the French Expressions 'C'est' vs. 'Il Est', How to Conjugate 'Parler' (to Talk) in French, Du, De La, Des: Expressing Quantities in French, The Many Meanings of the French Subject Pronoun On, describe their personality, there is a separate lesson for that. That would probably work in most cases. As you can see, even though most of the people here are female, just one male means you have to use the pronoun ils when you talk about the group. I quickly picked it up, and we’d sing it every afternoon. -age, -ege, – ` eme, -ome/- ` ome, -aume, -isme, This way entire rule can be reduced to 7 masculine ending exceptions and we could say +90% There’s no explanation. cause then there is this abandonné and it is male adjective…..can you help me out? (source https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/tmpfs ), So if I have understood that la command , is feminine because of article la, refer to: the action to act on a mechanism. He suggests the Hangul alphabet is not so difficult to learn compared to other oriental languages. Si on dit que les mots terminés par e sont féminins, c’est évident qu’on ne parle pas de tous les mots. It’s thought that as time went on and religion became more organized and, in most places, less animistic, gender seemed like a good way to keep nouns organized. (I’m sick of this chair ! (NOTE: the endings for feminine words that you listed above follow this rule for the most part, without having to remember dozens of different endings). Isn’t there some Greek or Latin connection? Nevertheless his general racial classification is with the Alpine group. French isn’t the only language whose nouns have genders, and masculine and feminine aren’t the only possible genders for nouns in certain other languages. You can practice both lessons by describing your friends (les amis (m) or amies (f)) and family (la familie) or anyone that you encounter. In French you must make the nationality adjective correspond with your gender – masculine or feminine. please! It has been proved, that facial symmetry is one of the criteria, by which we perceive attractiveness of a face. Apart from genders. If you don’t need to speak French it doesn’t matter. Sorry! 2)a large white cloth appendage hanging from their dominant hand, also known as their surrendering hand. You could probably master hangul in less than a week. It’s been years since I babysat that little boy, and years since I’ve been speaking French, so when I say or write those words today, the song doesn’t necessarily come to mind, but there was a time when it did for some of them! Pages in category "French masculine given names" The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 290 total. However, it’s important to note that words ending in “isme” or “age” for example tend to be masculine. Salut Ben, en français toute règle que tu peux imaginer a une exception. The previous list has the advantage of being exhaustive, but as French Together reader Amosnliz notes in the comment section, you can learn with a simplified, shorter list. Many people are confused about that, so it’s okay to use the feminine or masculine form if you talk about the candy. Glass , mirror, pen, pencil Besides that, this a good strategy for beginners, who will sound foreign no matter what anyway. Examples: généreux, généreuse; peureux, peureuse. Luckily there aren’t a huge number of French words with different meanings in different genders. !” (GNU/Linux’s penguin ‘course ^^). You may have heard that there is only one way to know the gender of a noun: to learn it by heart. Yeah French is actually one of the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn. ThoughtCo. Ils vont au cinéma chaque semaine. Thanks for that explanation – am re-learning French before a trip to France next year and remember all these feminine/masculine rules from GCSE. Similarly, you have a masculine “a” (un) and a feminine “a” (une). How to know the gender of French nouns with 80% accuracy, Other ways to learn and remember the gender of French words, How to learn and practice French noun gender. Although English nouns may not be gendered, people and their corresponding pronouns are. The French bulldog is a compact, muscular dog with a flat, short coat. Of course! I tend to do that too in English. – you can assume all other words are masculine? (Out of curiosity, just now I went through the vocab lists for my French II textbook — and confirmed that the above rule correctly identifies 88.5% of the nouns from those lists as feminine vs. But which do I use bavard (masculine) or bavarde (feminine)? But with genders attributed to words in a way that seems completely arbitrary, how can you ever learn the genders of every French noun? – wild A guide to the French, discussing French traits and characteristics. Incredible! In fact, that’s one of those (maybe few) rules that has no exception. Especially with feminine gender, so basically while reading I keep an eye on feminine articles and I write down the most unpredictable to me, like: la mer la limite la foto la rentrée la chaleur la poitrine la bouffe la suite la souris la vidéo la valeur la odeur la mosaïque la planète la signification la météo la glace And there are many patterns you can use when learning it. Hint:- Mnemonics!!! Over 100,000 French translations of English words and phrases. So, une voile is a sail and un voile is a veil. Although learning word endings that tend to be masculine or feminine is a more all-encompassing method, learning categories that are commonly masculine or feminine can be pretty helpful, too. male translation in English - French Reverso dictionary, see also 'male chauvinism',male chauvinist',male chauvinism',male chauvinist', examples, definition, conjugation What color is their hair or eyes? You can compare this to the way the word “actor” is being used more and more frequently to describe both males and females with this profession in the Anglophone world. 13 in Finnish?? Regardless of their unclear and arbitrary origin, you can’t master French if you don’t master French genders. Cléa, Hélène, Rose, and Paul like movies. no they are a lot of exceptions like le the, le cafe and etc. Instead, bookmark this page and regularly look at the list. Some of the most popular are: You’ve probably come across lists of French vocabulary with a definite or indefinite article in front of each word. mur-wall what is it a decent human being), the fact that, in French, masculine nouns take precedence over feminine ones may bum you out a little. Begin the sentence with Il / Elle est.. (He / She is...) and then use the appropriate adjective. FIG. French Vocabulary: Physical Descriptions of People. It would be awesome if you could come back in a few months and tell us if this rule works :). But maybe this method doesn’t work for you. Actually you don’t have to learn ALL those endings… If the word ends with E it is almost certainly feminine. Of course, there are some exceptions, mostly archaic or borrowed words / names. 32 years in France and I’m still lost with word gender. Virginie Fernandez (15 November 1976), known by her stage name Virginie Ledoyen, is a French actress.. 21. That is because it is not the object itself that requires the article “an” it is the word we choose. Still, whether there’s logic to them or not, genders are a part of the French language and knowing them is essential when it comes to speaking and writing correctly. The passé composé tense is the most striking example of the influence of genders and number on conjugation, although any verb tense that uses an auxiliary verb can be influenced by the gender and number of the subject. When talking about certain animals in French, you refer to the male version of the species with a masculine noun and the female of the species with a feminine noun. Except for non-native speakers who would inherently expect a veil, an accessory typically worn by females, to be the feminine one…. Marion Cotillard (30 September 1975) - French actress.. 19. Personally, although the endings method is the one I’ve found the most useful, I’ve always tried to memorize vocabulary with an article, as well. Maybe I’m rationalizing my not being able to learn 100% but it’s all a fun journey! (vowel) ‘Handsome’ all buildings apartment, museum, cinema, airport , Bus stop, Jetty , 10 things that make the French French. I have a question about masculine and feminine nouns, I just meet this: la commande (feminine) The balance of the workforce changed during World War II.As men left their positions to enlist in the military and fight in the war, women started replacing them. Yes, you do have the classical french facial features such as your cheekbones and chin, light skin, hair type and color, large eyes, and mouth shape/size. It will not be long before you these words become a natural part of your French vocabulary. And for all nouns starting with a, vowel, you use the masculine possessive adjective, whether the word actually is masculine or not. Masculine plural: contents except endings : Feminine plural: bonnes. So here you have your two genders. I have a much simpler way to identify the vast majority of nouns as being masculine or feminine. To further complicate it, there are two different meanings for “bass.” One is a type of fish (small mouth bass/large mouth bass), the other is in reference to music and sound. “Abandonné” is different, because it’s an adjective. French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify. ‘une regle’ – a ruler has two sides. (For all other word endings: the great majority are masculine). Have feminism and the gender equality movement had an effect on the French language? In a 2008 study , native French speakers were asked to determine the gender of 93 words (which it turns out were all masculine). From what we know about ancient texts and fragments of words, as well as by trying to reconstruct primitive languages based on modern-day language families, it seems that humans began by classifying nouns as living or not living. The gender of some nouns makes sense (homme [man] is masculine, femme [woman] is feminine) but others don't: the words personne [person] and victime [victim] are always feminine, even when the person or victim is a man! Claire, Donald, Céline, Christine, et Roger étaient tous fatigués. – words that end with ‘ion’ are feminine (previous page) () Many words ending in eux are adjectives, so they have no gender. The gender of words in French – as well as their grammatical and social implications – can be complicated. Examples: un étalon (a stallion), un cerf (a stag), une chatte (female cat), un chat (a male … Describing the physical features of a person in French is easy. Freckles and dimples are also rarely singular. Tu es allé(e) Nobody uses 100% of a language. French adjectives change based on the gender and number of the noun they modify, 13 common French mistakes that’ll make you feel awkward, -an, -and, -ant, -ent, -in, -int, -om, -ond, -ont, -on (but not after s/c¸), -air, -er, -erf, -ert, -ar, -arc, -ars, -art, -our, -ours, -or, -ord, -ors, -ort, -ir, -oir, -eur, -aie, -oue, -eue, -ion, -te, – ée, -ie, -ue, -asse, -ace, -esse, -ece, -aisse, -isse/-ice, -ousse, -ance, -anse, -ence, -once, -enne, -onne, -une, -ine, -aine, -eine, -erne, -ande, -ende, -onde, -ade, -ude, -arde, -orde, -euse, -ouse, -ase, -aise, -ese, -oise, -ise, -yse, -ose, -use, -ache, -iche, -eche, -oche, -uche, -ouche, -anche, -ette, -ete, – ête, -atte, -otte, -oute, -orte, -ante, -ente, -inte, -onte. French folks are a class apart and so are French boy names. But you’ll never be able to speak French perfectly without knowing genders. – handsome example: Je vous laisse le commandement. For instance, in Canadian French, une médecin and une docteure are used, and doctoresse is used in Swiss and Belgian French. What makes Hungarian writing an eyesore is that there are several compound letters and accentuation marks, which are needed express all 44(!) There are exceptions, but if you know these patterns, you’ll know how most adjectives change based on the gender of the noun they modify. . example: Exceptions (usually): words ending in -age, -ege, -é, or -isme. France (officially, the French Republic) is divided into 18 integral administrative regions (regions, singular - region). These differences are only noticeable in written French since the pronunciation remains the same. Also,when dealing with possessive adjectives,mon is put before nouns stating with a vowel to prevent vowel clash. Male chauvinism is the belief that men are superior to women.The first documented use of the phrase "male chauvinism" is in the 1935 Clifford Odets play Till the Day I Die.. – powerful Other than these changes, when it comes to gender in the French language, not much has happened in terms of everyday vocabulary and grammar. A stereotypical French man has dark hair with a receding hairline that seems to make the forehead appear even higher than it already is. "French Vocabulary: Physical Descriptions of People." To answer that question and speak about height, weight, and other physical traits, you will use the following adjectives. Over 100,000 French translations of English words and phrases. Colors common to the breed include fawn, white and varieties of brindle. So, for example, orange is masculine when it’s a color and feminine when it’s a fruit. You may also want to check if it belongs on the list of typically masculine or feminine word endings. I checked to be sure, it isn’t there!!! “Gender” is still the term used for this kind of classification, though. I imagine that also a slight change of position of words like this: Feminine plural: contentes, Masculine singular: fatigué I just find American English the most difficult: their slang words often confuses me, and I had to ask my friend why it exists, and how the word is used. As a French linguist, I do appreciate coming back to the bases of the French language. The instance of French men willingly reciprocating this is nothing short of startling to people who think the French of today are "supposed to" look down on Americans. For example, la lune, ta plume, un mot, ta porte. Why organizing nouns into general groups seemed necessary, and why certain nouns that would seem inherently masculine or feminine fall into the completely opposite category, is still uncertain. It's important to know French vocabulary for personality traits so that you can describe yourself and others. Taking the descriptions one step further, you might want to talk about the color of a person's eyes (les yeux) or hair (les cheveux) or point out that they have freckles or dimples. French words for male include mâle, masculin, masculins, sexe masculin and masculines. There’s a love-hate relationship between the French and Germans (the French love to hate the Germans), although they reserve their greatest animosity for les Anglo-Saxons, i.e. Masculine plural: fatigués Er, the grammar rule is that -eux endings are masculine; the feminine of the word would end with -euse. Notice that despite the first two items being feminine, because un sandwich is masculine, the entire group is referred to with ils , the masculine plural pronoun. This may have had practical, as well as religious, purposes. The more you read and hear French, the most you will be able to automatically determine whether a word is feminine or masculine. The other way that I would like to suggest you all. Notice that nationalities in French … ending anything but ‘e’ – masculine, Isn’t it the same as the simplified list I posted though? – Sharp are masculin No matter how you feel about gender equality, that has to make you feel good for future learners of French! Or print it out and hang it somewhere you often linger – for example, beside your bathroom mirror, by the sink where you wash the dishes, or even by your toilet. Hi, just wondering what you mean by “after C (C=t)” when listing this rule for masculine nouns: When the word ends with either “t’er or “t”e where t can also be c, Thanks for this handy summary. You can read about her adventures here, or feel free to stop by her website. He said also that women and men know and use (I don’t know how many on the overall language) different words for the same things, this feature reflects the fact of an, old, difference of power between couple’s members. Wait, so basically all feminine endings end in E, except for rare ocassions and masculine endings are the rest? That’s definitely something I want to work on though. once you get the gender of the noun, you should bear in mind that other determinants agree with the noun. In keeping with the salute to French women month in my eBay store, I thought I would spell out a few reasons why la femme française deserves recognition. Did you know that ‘aigle’ (eagle) was feminine until the early 19th century, when Napoléon decided it would become its emblem (more noble than the rooster, right). But first, you have to keep these few rules in mind. French women are practical. Also, the adjectives in this section are plural. “La tour” because when its meaning is “tower” “tour” is feminine. In addition, verb agreement is a “must” when a verb conjugated with avoir is a direct object. In this case, if you’re talking about a group of nouns and just one person/thing is masculine, the adjective you use to describe the group will be masculine, as well. As it happens, it ends with an “e”, so it’s feminine then? it is the word chosen. -œur: la sœur, la mœur (but le cœur); Thank You Alysa Salzberg, Your Endings Will Help Me SOOO MUCH What is it about the French that makes them so, well, quintessentially "French"? Of course, some words change very little when it comes to the noun they’re modifying. When you’re saying you’re from put “je suis” (I am) in front of your nationality. Hello, what did you mean by “(but not after s/c¸)” in the first line of the masculine list? Everything I'm saying below is a broad stereotype or generalisation and shouldn't be taken as a concrete fact. ThoughtCo. If we called that same structure “un monument” then it is masculine. I think one of the most confusing though is remembering that un chat is masculine – why on earth is a cat considered masculine in French when pretty much every other language even English refers to it as feminine and a “feline” (although just noticed even the French word for feline is masculine!!). The majority of words that end in -e or -ion. In French, you have a masculine “the” (le) and a feminine “the” (la). Alysa Salzberg is an American writer, worrier, teacher, and cookie enthusiast who has lived in Paris, France, for more than a decade. In Hungarian, you spell everything just the way you hear it (phonetic writing) – no silent letters. Il/elle est allé(e) To the contrary, explains Carol: “French culture appreciates both the sensual and the intellectual." No, actually it’s masculine. Also spelling/pronunciation makes no sense because I can’t find rules e.g. – strong Perfect for beginners in the French language, by the end of this lesson you will be able to talk about the physical characteristics of people. Don't forget that the adjective you use must agree with the noun you are describing. Firstly, it is a very long article(showing an amazing level of patience and commitment, thank u) Je me demandais si meme les Francais de souche se trompent de temps en temps du genre? read also: The most beautiful Hollywood actresses 22. Just downloading the apps for a newspaper or two, or even starting with simple stories such as children books will do wonders. Is that therefore a masculine word or a feminine word? In French, all nouns have a gender—they are either masculine or feminine. Now let’s see why knowing the gender of French words is so important. How do u say ‘they’ in both masculine and feminine form? Fortunately, there are methods that you can use to learn, memorize, and guess the genders of French nouns. So it is NOT the object itself that is masculine or feminine…. One of the other ones I couldn’t quite get my head around was mon amie because I gathered that amie must be feminine but it’s not ma amie it’s mon amie – mind you I suppose ma amie would be a bit of a mouthful! French Translation of “feature” | The official Collins English-French Dictionary online. I put ma because it ended in a vowel It will get easier and easier with time :). Your lists (full and simplified) of masculine and feminine nouns is extremely useful. That’s why some feminine concepts have masculine words. This won’t hold true 100% of the time, but you’re much more likely to be right if you follow this rule than if you simply guess. This is an un- common type for a Basque, since most of them are Atlanto-Mediterraneans and Dinarics. https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/musée/53378. Great post! Luckily this is one of many myths about the French language. Learn how to say that someone is tall, thin, or has blue eyes in this language lesson. There are more than 5 classic traits about French women, but let’s be practical. I can’t confirm you that 90% of nouns do end with a vowel, because I would need to check out the entire dictionary, but it’s clear that there are lots of ways to determine the gender of French nouns, and the vowel rule may be one of them.
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