Gender of Nouns

Unlike English, French nouns have gender: They can be masculine or feminine.

Because French articles have to agree with the nouns they are used with in both gender and number, you always have to learn a new noun along with its article.

Feminine Nouns

We can sometimes recognize a noun’s gender by its ending.

Rule 1: All nouns that end in -ette, -esse, -tude, -ance, -elle are feminine:

Masculine Nouns

Rule 2: All nouns that end in -et, -ier, -ail, -isme, -oir are masculine:

Look Out!

Remember! The grammatical gender of the noun is not the same as the gender of the object it defies. When learning a new word, always check its gender.