French Genders: Mastering Masculine and Feminine

Most modern English speakers don’t wonder if their kitchen table is feminine, or if their winter coat is masculine. However, when you’re learning French, these are important questions.

In French, virtually every noun or adjective has a set gender: These words are either considered masculine or feminine.

Grammatical gender is simply a way of grouping words. If you’ve ever studied another Romance language, such as Spanish or Italian, this idea will already be familiar to you. 

We’ll examine the basic rules of French gender. Plus, we’ll show you how to easily recognize most feminine and masculine nouns. 

Once we have this foundation in place, we’ll look at some nouns that can be either masculine or feminine — or both. Then we’ll talk a little about how to practice French gender rules.

Allons-y, mes amis ! (Let’s go, my friends!)

Gender in French affects which adjectives you use with nouns, as well as which pronouns you use to describe groups of people.

In French, nouns and their adjectives — including words for “a” and “the” — must match each other in both gender and number.

Making these matches means learning different forms for common words. We’ll take these one by one.

Definite Articles: Four Kinds of “The”

Technically, there are only three kinds of “the” in French: la, le, and les. However, for singular words that begin with vowels in French, like étoile (star) and eau (water), we replace the vowel in le or la with an apostrophe.

Noun Gender	Number	Word for “The”
Feminine	Singular	la
Masculine	Singular	le
Feminine or Masculine, starting with a vowel or a “mute h-” (an h- that acts like a vowel)	Singular	l’
Feminine or Masculine	Plural	les

Similar to the French words for “the,” the words for “a” (or “an”) match the gender and number of the noun in question.

You won’t have to worry about making any changes for words that start with vowels, though.

Noun Gender	Number	Word for “A”/“An”
Feminine	Singular	une
Masculine	Singular	un
Feminine or Masculine	Plural	des (some)

Like the French words for “the” and “a,” descriptive words  for characteristics like the size, shape, or color of a noun need to match that noun’s gender and number.

For singular feminine words, you’ll generally need to add an -e to adjectives that end in a consonant. Watch out for additional changes in words like gros (big, heavy), which adds an -se to form grosse, the feminine singular. 

You get a free pass with singular adjectives that already end in an -e, such as mince (thin) or rapide (fast). This group includes color names such as rouge (red), jaune (yellow), rose (pink), and orange (orange). 

For most plurals, regardless of other changes, you’ll need to add an -s (or, sometimes, an -x) to the end of the adjective.Words like beau (handsome, nice) can change considerably: Beau transforms into belle (beautiful) for feminine singular. In front of a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or a mute h-, beau becomes bel… as you’ll see in un bel arbre (a nice tree) or un bel homme (a handsome man).

Adjective & Meaning	Masculine		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
grand (large, tall)	grand	grands	grande	grandes
petit (small)	petit	petits	petite	petites
beau (handsome, beautiful)	beau / bel (before a vowel, including a “mute” h-)	beaux	belle	belles
joli (pretty; nice)	joli	jolis	jolie	jolies
mignon (cute, sweet)	mignon	mignons	mignonne	mignonnes
gros (large; heavy; fat)	gros	gros	grosse	grosses
rapide (quick)	rapide	rapides	rapide	rapides
lent (slow)	lent	lents	lente	lentes
méchant (mean, nasty)	méchant	méchants	méchante	méchantes
gentil (nice, kind)	gentil	gentils	gentille	gentilles
âgé (old)	âgé	âgés	âgée	âgées
jeune (young)	jeune	jeunes	jeune	jeunes
noir (black)	noir	noirs	noire	noires
blanc (white)	blanc	blancs	blanche	blanches
vert (green)	vert	verts	verte	vertes
bleu (blue)	bleu	bleus	bleue	bleues
rouge (red)	rouge	rouges	rouge	rouges

In English, our possessives match the person who owns something. We would say, “She has her opinion, and he has his opinion.” Even though both the man and the woman each have an opinion, we use a different word in each case to show possession of their respective opinions.

In French, the possessive adjective you’ll choose must correspond to both the owner of the object, and to the gender and number of the noun. 

Interestingly enough, the same set of words (son / sa / ses) is used to convey both his and hers in French. So, we would say, Elle a sa opinion, et il a sa opinion.” (She has her opinion, and he has his opinion.)

The same is true if something is theirs in French, even though French has a distinct masculine “they” (ils) and feminine “they” (elles): Ils ont leurs opinions, et elles ont leurs opinions.” (They [masculine] have their opinions, and they [feminine] have their opinions.)

Meaning	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine / Feminine  Plural
my	mon	ma use mon before a vowel, like mon activité (my activity)	mes
your [singular informal]	ton	ta  use ton before a vowel, like ton  épaule (your shoulder)	tes
his / hers	son	sa  use son before a vowel, like son occupation (his / her occupation)	ses
our	notre	notre	nos
your [formal / plural]	votre	votre	vos
their	leur	leur	leurs

Sometimes called the “demonstrative adjective,” ce is a word that can mean either “this” or “that” in French — or, in the plural, “these” or “those.”

Ce changes in three different ways to match gender and number:

• • Adds a -t for any masculine words that start with a vowel or a mute h: 
    • cet acteur (this actor)

• cet homme (that man)

• • Adds a -tte for the feminine singular:

• cette fille (that girl)

• cette classe (this class)

• • Adds an -s for the masculine and feminine plurals:

• ces trucs (those things [masculine])

• ces assiettes (these plates [feminine])

The personal pronouns you use to describe a whole group of people (or objects) in French depend upon who (or what) is in the group:

• Groups of all females or all feminine objects are elles (the feminine “they”)
• Groups of all males or all masculine objects are ils (the masculine “they”)
• Groups of any size with one or more masculine members are ils (the masculine “they”)

This last rule is probably the hardest to grasp. You could have a group of a billion women, and just one man, and you’d still refer to the group collectively as ils.

However, this rule may change someday, as part of a movement to make the French language more gender-neutral.

There are two main ways to identify whether French nouns are masculine or feminine:

• Look at the word endings. 
• Learn groups of words that are typically masculine or feminine.

Let’s start with the endings.

Frankly, there are dozens of typical endings for both masculine and feminine French nouns. I wouldn’t recommend taking time to memorize them all! As your French vocabulary grows, you will naturally start to recognize the patterns.

Even so, it’s worth reviewing a few of the more common noun endings and patterns for each gender.

We’ll start with “ladies first” and look at some feminine noun endings in French.

Many French feminine noun endings have a double consonant followed by an -e, such as:

Ending	Example
-ffe	la griffe (claw)
-mme	la pomme (apple)
-nne	la tonne (ton)
-tte	une assiette (plate)
-rre	la terre (earth)
-esse	la tendresse (tenderness)

Other common French feminine nouns endings include:

Ending	Example
-ie	la photographie → la photo (photo)
-tion	la nation (nation)
-ance	la tendance (tendency; trend)
-ude	la quiétude (tranquility)
-ace	la face (face)
-ée	la journée (daytime; specific day)

These masculine noun endings crop up often in French:

Ending	Example
-eur	le bonheur (happiness)
-eau	le tableau (painting)
-cle	le spectacle (show, sight)
-oir	le miroir (mirror)
-age	le sondage (opinion poll)
-isme	le charisme (charisma)
-c	le sac (bag)
-ège	le siège (seat; headquarters)

A few noun endings are found in both masculine and feminine words. Some of these endings lean more heavily toward one gender. However, you might see some common words that are notable exceptions.

For example, the ending -ain is found in masculine words like le pain (bread), le bain (bath), le train (train), and un écrivain (writer). However, you’ll also see it in a common feminine word, la main (hand).

Certain groups of words are typically masculine or feminine in French.

Masculine nouns cover a lot of territory, including words for food and drink, calendar words, and many geography words.

Group / Category	Examples
Most Food & Drink Names that Don’t End in -e	le pain (bread) le croque-monsieur (classic French ham-and-cheese sandwich) le yaourt (yogurt) le thé (tea) le café (coffee) le vin (wine) le soda (soda, fizzy drink)
Most Cheeses	le camembert le neufchâtel le pont-l’évêque le cantal
(Almost) All Wines	le sauvignon blanc le beaujolais nouveau le pinot gris le merlot
(Almost) All Tree Names	un érable (maple tree) le pin (pine tree) le pêcher (peach tree) le châtaignier (chestnut tree) le bouleau (birch tree)
(Most) Country & River Names that Don’t End in -e	le Tchad (Chad) le Chili (Chile) le Danemark (Denmark) le Gabon (Gabon) le Guyana (Guyana) l’Irak (Iraq) Israël (Israel) le Maroc (Morocco) le Népal (Nepal) le Salvador (El Salvador) le Rhin (Rhine River) Exceptions: le Mozambique (Mozambique) le Belize (Belize) le Mexique (Mexico) le Zaïre (Zaire) le Cambodge (Cambodia) le Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) le Rhône (Rhone River)
Geographical Directions	le nord (North) le sud (South) l’est (East) l’ouest (West) le nord-ouest (Northwest)
Most Metals & Stones	le bronze (bronze) le fer (iron) l’acier (steel) le granit (granite) le marbre (marble) le quartz (quartz)
All Dates on a Calendar	le 14 juillet (July 14) le 8 février (February 8) le 15 août (August 15)
All Days of the Week	le lundi (Monday) le mardi (Tuesday) le mercredi (Wednesday) [etc.]
Names of Individual Colors	le vert (green) le noir (black)  le blanc (white) le rouge (red)  le bleu (blue)
All Names for Languages	le français (French) l’anglais (English) l’arabe (Arabic) le chinois (Chinese) l’espagnol (Spanish) le japonais (Japanese) le polonais (Polish)
Loanwords from English	le parking (parking lot [car park]) le sandwich (sandwich) le shampooing (shampoo) le sweat (sweatshirt) le brainstorming (brainstorm)

There are fewer groups of specifically feminine words than masculine ones. Still, they’re worth noting.

Group / Category	Examples
Most Continent Names	l’Afrique (Africa) l’Asie (Asia) l’Australie (Australia) l’Amérique du Sud / Nord (South America / North America) l’Europe (Europe) Exception: l’Antarctique (Antarctica) is masculine — as is the polar region of l’Arctique (the Arctic).
Most Country & River Names that End in -e	la Chine (China) la France (France) la Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) l’Angleterre (England) l’Égypte (Egypt) la Finlande (Finland) l’Allemagne (Germany) la Hongrie (Hungary) l’Inde (India) la Jamaïque (Jamaica) la Somme (Somme River) la Garonne (Garonne River) la Maine (Maine River) la Loire (Loire River) la Seine (Seine River)
Names of Planets and Other Heavenly Bodies	la Terre (Earth) la lune (the moon) Mercure (Mercury) Pluton (Pluto) Neptune (Neptune) Saturne (Saturn) une étoile (a star) une planète (a planet) Even though these are all feminine, we don’t use an article (“the” or “a”) with most of the proper names for planets (or planetary masses). The main exceptions are la Terre (Earth) and la lune (the moon).
Names of Automobile Brands	la Peugeot (Peugeot) la Renault (Renault) la Venturi (Venturi) la Microcar (Microcar)
Most Foods & Drinks that End in -e	la tomate (tomato) la bière (beer) la glace (ice cream) la tarte (tart, open-faced pie) la saucisse (sausage) la pâte (pastry, dough, batter) les pâtes (pasta) Exceptions: le fromage (cheese) le beurre (butter) le concombre (cucumber) le potage (thick stew or soup made of boiled vegetables)
Names of School Subjects / Academic Disciplines	la philosophie (philosophy) la physique (physics) les maths / les mathématiques (mathematics) la science (science) l’histoire (history) la géo / la géographie (geography) la religion (religion) Exceptions: individual language names — le français (French), l’anglais (English), le chinois (Chinese), etc., are all masculine l’art (art) is masculine le droit (law) is masculine
Names of Feast Days	[la Fête de] la Saint-Jean (St. John’s Feast Day) [la Fète de] la Saint-Croix (Feast of the Holy Cross) [la Fête de] la Saint-Patrick (St. Patrick’s Feast Day) la Saint-Sylvestre (Saint Sylvester’s Day, also known as New Year’s Eve)

Why is la (feminine “the”) put in front of the name of a male saint, like Jean or Patrick? 

I couldn’t find a definitive answer, but my theory is that the word journée (day) dropped out of the expression a long time ago. 

So, la fête de la Saint-Jean (St. John’s feast) was probably la fête de la journée de Saint Jean (the feast of St. John’s day) at one point in time.

Although the vast majority of French nouns are either masculine or feminine, dozens of French nouns can be either.

Sometimes, the gender of these nouns depends on who or what they’re describing. Here are a few examples:

• adulte (adult)

• enfant (child)

• gosse (kid [slang for “child”])

• élève (pupil)

• • camarade (classmate)

• aide (assistant, helper)

This list of “gender-neutral” nouns also includes many professions, such as:

• journaliste (journalist)

• dentiste (dentist)

• fleuriste (florist) 

• psychologue (psychologist)

• artiste (artist)

• comptable (accountant)

• juge (judge)

Even though many of these end in -iste, which sounds somewhat feminine, they can be used to describe anyone in that particular profession. You simply choose the article based on the person you’re describing.

In a few cases cases, loanwords from other languages have no established French gender. For instance:

• oasis (oasis)
• réglisse (licorice)

Sometimes, the same exact word can mean something different, based on which gender it takes. 

Word	Feminine Meaning(s)	Masculine Meaning(s)
boum	party	explosion, bang;  [colloquially] success
barde	fatty bacon; fat surrounding meat	poet, bard
cache	hiding place	disk cache / web cache [computers]
cartouche	cartridge [like the ink cartridge for a printer]	oval-shaped, ancient Egyptian design, enclosing a royal name
chèvre	goat [animal]	goat cheese
crème	cream	coffee with cream
crêpe	thin pancake, either sweet or savory	thin tissue or fabric
diesel	diesel-fueled vehicle	diesel fuel
enseigne	sign; flag, banner	ensign (military rank)
espace	space [in printing]	room, space
faux	scythe [related to faucher (to cut down, to mow)]	forgery, fake
finale	final round(s) of a sports competition	closing musical number
foudre	lightning	an enormous vat used in winemaking
geste	epic poem [such as La chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland)]	gesture [as in a hand motion; also used in the phrase les gestes barrières (social distancing and hygiene)]
greffe	graft, transplant	legal office, such as office of the court clerk
livre	pound [weight / currency]	book
manche	sleeve	handle
manœuvre	operation, maneuver	laborer
mort	death	dead body
mémoire	memory, remembrance	memo, dissertation
merci	mercy	thanks
mi-temps	half-time [sports]	part-time [work]
mode	fashion	way, method, method
nocturne	nocturnal gathering or sports match; late-night store opening	nocturne [musical form]
œuvre	task; specific piece of work	body of work [of a writer, artist, etc.]
office	pantry	office, bureau
ombre	shadow	a type of salmon
orange	orange [fruit]	orange [color]
physique	physics [academic discipline]	physique, physical appearance
poche	pocket	paperback book
poêle	frying pan	stove
politique	politics; policy	politician
poste	post office; snail mail	post, job; radio or TV set
pub	TV / radio commercials [short for publicité]	pub, bar, tavern
somme	total amount, sum	nap, siesta, snooze
tour	tower; high-rise; rook [in chess]	stroll, run, walk; drive; ride; turn
vase	mud, silt	vase
voile	sail [as used on a ship]	veil

Masculine and feminine in French can seem completely arbitrary. However, there are clues like topical categories and word endings that can help you identify French genders.

Use online “French adjective agreement exercises” to help you sharpen your skills. Write out simple French sentences or phrases that match nouns with their proper adjectives. Practice describing objects or people with adjectives during your French conversations.

Over time, as you read and hear more French, it will become much easier to remember the genders of various nouns — as well as the corresponding adjective forms.  

Bonne chance (good luck) and bon apprentissage (happy learning)!