How to use genders and articles in French
Every noun in French is either masculine or feminine.
The word you use for a or the depends on whether it’s with a masculine or feminine noun.
For a feminine noun une means a and la means the:
une banane, la banane.
For a masculine noun un means a and le means _the_:
un portable, le portable.
And if you have more than one thing then the le or la become les:
les pommes.
You do have to learn the genders of words. But there are some patterns which will help you.
la mère - mother and le père - father.
The gender of the word is the same as the gender of the person.
Nearly all words borrowed from English like le week-end and l’Internet are also masculine…
Words ending in -ment like l’appartement are masculine.
Words ending in -sion like la télévision are all feminine.
Words ending in -ure - like voiture are also feminine:
la voiture.
It is important to know if something is le or la masculine or feminine and with these tips you can make a start.
What is grammatical ‘gender’?
All French nouns have a grammatical gender - they are either masculine or feminine. It’s important 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 (a/an). With plural words, use les (the) or des (some). With all words that start with a vowel or ‘h’, use l’, regardless of whether it’s a masculine or feminine noun.
How do you know if a word is masculine or feminine?
With some words, it is easy to know whether they are masculine or feminine, because they describe male or female people.
- le père - father
- la mère - mother
All female family members are feminine and all male family members are masculine.
To know whether other nouns are masculine or feminine, consider the following rules, but remember there are often exceptions to the rules.
Words that end in the following letters are often masculine:
| ending | example | exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| -age | le visage (face) | la page (page), l’image (image) |
| -ment | un appartement (apartment) | |
| -eau | le gâteau (cake) | l’eau (water) |
| -isme | le racisme (racism) | |
| -in | le jardin (garden) | la fin (end) |
A lot of ‘new’ French words, which often come from English, are masculine:
- Internet is masculine (although it never has an article) eg: J’aime passer du temps sur Internet - I like spending time on the internet.
- le week-end - weekend
- le sandwich - sandwich
Words that end in the following letters are often feminine:
| ending | example | exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| -sion / -tion | la télévision (television) la natation (swimming) | |
| -ure | la voiture (car) | |
| -ée | une année (year) | le musée (museum), le lycée (high school) |
| -erie | la boulangerie (bakery) | |
| -té | la qualité (quality) |
How do you form plurals?
To turn most French nouns into plurals, you need to add an ‘s’ to the end of the word. Use les (the) or des (some) with plural nouns:
- le père - les pères (father - fathers)
- une table - des tables (a table - some tables)
With some nouns, the endings change slightly when they become plural.
Words ending in -eau and -ou usually have an ‘x’ when they become plural:
- le gâteau - les gâteaux (cake - cakes)
- un chou - des choux (a cabbage - some cabbages)
If a word ends in -al, you normally take off the ‘l’ and add ‘ux’ to make it plural:
- un animal - des animaux (an animal - some animals)
Some words are completely different in the singular and plural:
- l’œil - les yeux (eye - eyes)
However, some words, particularly ones that end in -s, -z or -x, don’t change when they become plural.
- le jus - les jus (juice - juices)
- un nez - des nez (a nose - some noses)
- la voix - les voix (voice - voices)
Definite articles and when to use them
The definite article is the word the. There are three words for the in French, depending on whether a word is masculine, feminine or plural.
| 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 examples of where you use the definite article in French, where it is not needed in English.
After aimer (to like) or détester (to hate):
- J’aime les chats - I like cats.
- Ma mère déteste les oignons - My mum hates onions.
Talking about things in general:
- Les chiens sont super - Dogs are great.
- Le lundi, je vais chez mes grands-parents - On Mondays, I go to my grandparents’ house.
With school subjects:
- J’étudie les maths - I’m studying maths.
- Mon copain voudrait apprendre le français - My friend would like to learn French.
Indefinite articles and when to use them
The words for ‘a/an’ and ‘some’ change in French, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
| masculine | feminine | plural (masculine and feminine) |
|---|---|---|
| un | une | des |
The indefinite article is used very similarly in French and English:
- Je voudrais un hamburger - I would like a hamburger.
- Tu as une armoire dans ta chambre ? - Do you have a wardrobe in your bedroom?
- Ma sœur mange des fraises - My sister is eating (some) strawberries.
Quiz
Find out how much you know about genders and articles in French in this short quiz.
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