Are you wondering what the difference between feminine and masculine in French is? Here is all the information you need to know to smash your next French test.
I am an Australian who lives in France and has been studying French for over 10 years, so I understand all the frustrations that come with learning French. As an English speaker, the idea of feminine and masculine in French can seem completely foreign! That’s why I am here to break it down, giving you all the tips to navigate the feminine and masculine in French.
You are going to learn what the difference between feminine and masculine is, why it is important, and ways to know whether something is feminine or masculine in French. I additionally talk about some of the challenges the French have found with their categorization of feminine and masculine nouns.
After reading this article on the feminine and masculine in french, you are going to be a pro and continue studying french with confidence!
This post is all about the feminine and masculine in French.
A Complete Guide to the feminine and masculine in French
Explanation of feminine vs masculine
In French, every noun has a gender, they are either masculine or feminine. What do I mean by a noun? I mean any object, place, or living thing (person or animal). This can be confusing for us English speakers because we do not have gendered nouns. But, for instance, we know when a French noun is feminine when it accompanies la, while masculine nouns use le. La and Le both mean the. Le and la (the) are called definite articles.
La fille = the girl
Le garçon = the boy
Now from our above example, la fille & le garçon, we can see that people that are stereotypically defined as female are feminine, and male as masculine. However, don’t be fooled! While you may be able to guess nouns categorized as people, it isn’t this simple for everything else, unfortunately.
In fact, a common misconception is that ‘objects’ that appear to have “masculine qualities” are categorized as masculine nouns. Likewise, objects that have “feminine qualities” are “feminine nouns”. However, be careful with these assumptions, because this is not correct. Often English speakers who think this way are still attaching ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ to reflect the qualities attached to females and males. But you must de-tach from this idea.
The French categories are not ‘male’ or ‘female’, nor do they reflect “qualities”, they are simply categories of gender: feminine and masculine.
My favourite example is the following.
The Tie = La cravate (feminine object)
The Bikini = Le bikini (masculine object)
Why is it important to know whether something is feminine or masculine in French?
It is important for so many grammatical reasons. Many words in a sentence change depending on the gender of the noun in question.
Example 1:
If you wanted to say the two following sentences you would need to know the gender of ‘la cravate.’
Person 1: Où est ma cravate? Where is my tie
Person 2: Elle est là. It is there.
In English, we commonly use ‘it’ to describe objects, because, for us, they are not categorised as feminine or masculine. In French, however ‘it’ doesn’t really exist. You would use either:
‘elle’ —> she
‘il’ —> he
She is there.
Example 2:
Où est ma cravate? Where is my tie?
Où est mon bikini? Where is my bikini?
Notice how the ‘my’ is different. In english we have one word for ‘my’, but in French the my changes according to whether the word is feminine or masculine.
These are just two simple examples, but there are many more, ranging of different complexities. Therefore, my biggest advice, if you are a beginner, is to always learn the word with either ‘le or la’. Knowing the gender of the word is just as important as knowing the word itself. So do yourself a favour, and learn the category earlier rather than later.
How do we know whether something is feminine or masculine in French?
Now you may be thinking, holy guacemole, how am I going to learn every word ASWELL as its gender!! This can be a daunting thought but don’t worry, you will get there! I also have some tips to help you.
Generally we can make some educated guess from what the word ends with, as there are some common patterns which can give away whether the word is feminine or masculine.
For something simple..
Tip #1: Most words that finish with -e (not é) are feminine nouns.
Examples:
la table – the table
la chaise – the chair
la lampe – the lamp
la voiture – the car
la porte – the door
la montagne – the mountain
Of course, always in French, there are exceptions to the rule. For instance:
le livre – the book
le magazine – the magazine
So yes, the tip does not have a 100% success rate, however, I find 80% of words that end in e will be feminine.
What I tell my students is, if you are faced with a scenario where you don’t know, and the word ends with e, you are better off guessing feminine. If you come across one that is an exception, make sure to make a note of it, write it down, and learn it separately.
Typical exceptions are:
Words that end with -isme, ède, ège, -ème and -age are usually masculine.
le romantisme ‘romanticism’, le tourisme ‘tourisme’, le piège ‘trap’, le système ‘system’, le courage ‘courage’.
Tip #2: Check what consonant the word ends with.
Maculine nouns tend to finish with the following nouns: c, d, g, l, r and t
While Feminine nouns tend to finish with these nouns: -n, -r, -s, -t, and -x
Once again, there are always exceptions, but generally this works.
Tip #3: Identify gender through word endings.
Typically words that end in -asme, -isme, -eau, -ment and -acle are usually masculine.
l’enthousiasme – enthusiam
le sarcasme – sarcasme
le couteau – knife
Typically words the end in -sion, -tion, -aison, and -té are feminine.
la version – translation
la beauté – beauty
la nation – nation
la terminaison – ending
If learning these verb endings helps you, I recommend you purchase a grammar book, as there will be a whole library of verb endings you can learn by heart.
https://www.leaflanguages.org/french-grammar-masculine-feminine-nouns/#:~:text=
If you’re like me and would find this a little overwhelming, then don’t worry! The easiest and simplest one to remember is that the majority of words that end in e are feminine. The rest, you will learn as you go. I’ve been learning French for 10 years, and I’m amazed at just how many words I can recall as either masculine or feminine with confidence. It takes time, but something that will happen in the process of learning French.
To keep in mind also: While feminine and masculine categorization is important and it’s ideal to speak with grammatical accuracy, many French people are really nice. They appreciate you trying to speak French and will not be offended by a minuscule error that is gender categorization. So don’t be discouraged by it!
What problems surround the feminine and masculine categories of nouns in French?
A hot debate in French is how to be inclusive of non-binary people, or any people that do not identify with strictly ‘he’ or ‘she’.
Currently, I am aware that there are some contractions of the terms il and elle to make new inclusive terms such as:
‘iel’ / ille
This discussion is still evolving, and unfortunately, no inclusive term has been accepted by the official French language. This would mean if you are completing a formal exam at school or DELF, technically these terms would not be accepted. However, if you, or someone you know categorises themselves as one of these terms, then absolutely use them in your conversations and everyday language.
If you are interested in this topic, I suggest you read this following site that goes into more detail.
This post was all about the feminine and masculine in French.