The general rule is that country names that end in silent "e" are feminine. Rules to remember about Nationalities In French! This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. How do you say the names of countries in French? Some words are always masculine or feminine regardless of their ending. Here's a basic list of the colors in both genders for you: Masculine: blanc (white), noir (black), rose (pink), rouge (red), bleu, orange, jaune (yellow), gris (grey/gray), marron (brown), vert (green), violet (purple). But there are far too many words that end in "e" that turn out to be masculine, making this approach difficult to use with any degree of accuracy. France has 13 distinct overseas territories. There are a lot of options when it comes to language learning textbooks. Spoiler: Grammar purists and I dont get along. Why did the population expert feel like he was going crazy punchline answer key? This distinction is important, as it can be used to create a variety of different social situations. And even if some of them make sense such a the gender of countries they are largely just trying to explain a big mess. You have a better understanding of what it does and what it means. Certain features such as audio, directly cost us money and . Learning French grammar can be very hard. French is hard for some and easy for others. What is meant by the competitive environment? We use le for masculine singular nouns. The good thing is, there are many shortcuts you can take to get the correct answer. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. What countries are feminine and masculine in French? Dont worry, though. And Im pretty sure English doesnt have that as well. If your goal is only to make yourself understood, then you dont need to be perfectly perfect with masculine and feminine genders, grammatically speaking of course. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. (second line is masculine, third is feminine). In reality, its the contraction of the articles, when they precede a noun starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). What is the best way to make money with no money? Finally, we have les. Let me know in the comments below. Old English used to have grammatical genders, but they fell out of use. The above-mentioned examples represents the singular form of a noun whose translations include "display," "exhibit," "inspection," "show,". We use it for plural nouns, whether theyre masculine or feminine. Having that said, the word tea in French is generally a feminine word. (2021, December 6). Examples: le frigo (the refrigerator), le ventilateur (the fan), le lapin (the rabbit), etc. E.g. French words are not capitalized as often as they are in English. Lets start with definite articles. Q: Is tomato masculine . The main reason for this ambiguity lies in the fact that both masculine and feminine forms are found in French. Other words have two different forms for masculine and feminine versions ( un avocat/une avocate, un acteur/une actrice) or a single form that refers to a man or a woman depending on which article is used ( un touriste/une touriste, un artiste/une artiste). Gender matters in French. Thats why many English speakers struggle with this aspect of French. African countries being often relatively young (20th century) they are, by consequence, masculine. Uninhabited 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi) ring-shaped coral reef in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Island located in French Caribbean sea islands 577 km from Puerto Rico, In northern Atlantic coast of South America. . For example: The word cheval (horse) is masculine, whereas jument (mare) is feminine, because they both reflect the gender of the animal. We have to determine the gender of a word so we know which one to use. In general, the words that end in -e, -o, and -l are all feminine while the words that end in -r are all masculine. If you memorize some simple rules and know a few exceptions to the rules, you'll never forget a country's gender in French again. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Gender doesnt matter. For example, grammatically in French, Spanish, Italian - money is considered masculine. Makes sense? What do you think? So any rule that you heard, especially rules about grammatical gender, are rules that have been deduced from the way French people were already using gender. There are six country names ending in -e and which are masculine : le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Belize, le Cambodge, le Suriname, le Zimbabwe. The nouns listed below are always masculine. Il faisait pas mal d'argent lorsqu'il travaillait. Allons-y! The word you use for a or the depends on whether it's with a masculine or feminine noun. The complement to feminine is masculine. PS: And join us at the French Club if you enjoyed this article. Without knowing the rules, you might be wondering why some nationalities in French are capitalized, while others are not. However, there are some appliances that are specifically designed to make tea. I dont understand why one object is feminine while another is masculine. Others are always feminine, like une voiture (a car), une maison (a house), and une cole (a school). In the two phrases above, "franais(e)" is used as an adjective, so it's NOT capitalized. 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! Over 100,000 French translations of English words and phrases. For example. They need to agree on some level. On the other hand, French has three: un, une, and des. I appreciate it. You will receive an email asking to confirm your subscription. to make money [person] faire de l'argent; [business] rapporter de l'argent He made good money when he worked. My passion had become my way of life, and I am finally able to share a cup of the good stuff with the ones I love. Good. A few word endings tend to indicate whether a noun is masculine or feminine. I didnt take French class in high school, I took Spanish and I always wondered why the word the was never properly explained and I still wondered when to use as masculine or feminine or singular or plural. In English, there is no equivalent article. Your email address will not be published. Grammatical gender? There is some controversy regarding not only professions but the whole French language arising out of feminism and the gender equality movement. Question. But it can also be masculine. For example: The word cheval","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"When a French noun describes a live being, its gender () often reflects the gender of the being in question. Now lets take a look at some typical feminine endings. The former is used in order to have a refreshing drink while the latter one is preferred for its more ceremonial atmosphere. Dont worry, though. ", EXCETION TO CAPITALIZING SOMEONES NATIONALITY IN FRENCH. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know. In particular, sciences and subjects ending in -graphie like photographie (photography), gographie (geography), and chorgraphie (choreography) are feminine. When you discover something you love you want to share it with the world, thats only natural. Thanks for commenting. She currently teaches French at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas.
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ThoughtCo. Some nationalities change form to feminine. We use de l for both masculine and feminine singular nouns. Words are either feminine and masculine in French, thats all. This is to indicate a noun is masculine/feminine and singular/plural. Learning French can be rewarding but challenging. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions you may have regarding your medical condition. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Une mission f ranais e. (m) Its kind of subjective. Or if you know all the rules, you can just skip to the list by scrolling down. Vegetables French vocabulary list. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Not only do things have genders in French, but cities, states, and countries do, too! Is it all feminine because its said to a womanor is it all feminine because its said by a woman? That is why, for optimum health, it is important to keep both body and mind in good shape. The word le th means not only tea but also oolong tea (Chinese oolong), black tea (also known as green tea), and herbal teas (chamomile or mint). 4 How do you say the names of countries in French? Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to know whether a noun is masculine or feminine. (= physical activity) exercice m to take exercise prendre de l'exercice to get exercise faire de l'exercice 2. In the dictionary, all French nouns bear with them an m or f, so you can easily check their gender. We dont spam! It may seem strange to us that chairs and tables are feminine whereas sofas and curtains are masculine, but that is one of the things we have to accept when learning French. These groups of nouns all of which are either masculine or feminine really got me thinking. Some words are either masculine or feminine regardless of their ending. (franais, franaise), (anglais, anglaise), (japonais, japonaise), etc. Names of sciences and school subjects: For example, chimie (chemistry), histoire (history), and mdecine (medical sciences). It doesnt make sense. Are You Quiet Quitting Your Own Business? Nationalities with * take no article but have a gender, Nationalities with * take no article but have gender. Who decided tables were women, but horses were men?! You will have to memorize them. Designed by Moxie Grafix. French people will still understand you if you use the wrong gender. l'oiseau bird le chat cat le poulet chicken la vache cow le chien dog le canard duck l'elephant elephant le poisson fish la grenouille frog la chvre goat le cheval horse le cochon pig le lapin rabbit le serpent snake la dinde turkey la tortue turtle Saying "une bureau" or "un chaise" is incorrect, but still understandable. Know that nouns referring to males are usually masculine and nouns referring to females are usually feminine. Exception: Most shrubs are also masculine, but vines are feminine (la vigne). All French nouns are either masculine or feminine and, just as in English, they can be either singular or plural. If you speak English, you're in luck because many country names in French and nationalities in French look or sound very similar to English. (= use) In short, it has an impact on other words in a sentence. Other ways that an imbalance between masculine and feminine energies can show up include: Difficulty with emotional expression and connection with others. Fortunately, they're easy to deal with because languages are never capitalized. But as a French native, and a French teacher I can tell you. For example: The word cheval (horse) is masculine, whereas jument (mare) is feminine, because they both reflect the gender of the animal. Finally, for plural we use des. French French - Animals 1 Nouns in red are feminine, nouns in blue are masculine . Adjectives are words that give you more information about the noun. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. If you are a native English speaker, or a native of a language that doesnt use grammatical gender it might sound a bit odd to your ears to hear a table is feminine and a horse is masculine. (= training activity) exercice m 5. Spanish is my native language, and even though we have grammatical genders, we still get confused when studying genders in French. For example, un bureau (desk) is masculine and une chaise (chair) is feminine. You understand French but you cant speak it? In actual fact, English is the odd man out when it comes to gender, as nouns in most languages are either masculine or feminine. On the website, you can hoover on the abbreviation to know what it means. Is tree masculine or feminine in french? Instead of learning table, you learn la table. Please check your Promotions Tab and/or Spam Folder. If you want a more complete answer about memorisation: read How to remember French words. Is France feminine or masculine in French? And quite fascinating as well. For the most part, nouns included in the following categories are masculine:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- \r\n
Names of trees: chne (oak tree), olivier (olive tree), pommier (apple tree)
\r\n \r\n \t - \r\n
Names of metals: or (gold), acier (steel), fer (iron)
\r\n \r\n \t - \r\n
Names of metric units: mtre (a meter), kilo (a kilo), centimtre (centimeter)
\r\n \r\n \t - \r\n
Names of colors: le rouge (red), le vert (green), le bleu (blue)
\r\n \r\n \t - \r\n
Names of languages: le chinois (chinese), lallemand (german), le franais (French)
\r\n \r\n \t - \r\n
Nouns of English origin: tennis (tennis), parking (parking lot), football (soccer)
\r\n \r\n
How to identify feminine French nouns
\r\nSome noun endings typically designate female gender and some common examples.\r\n| Noun Ending | \r\nExamples | \r\n
|---|---|
| -ade | \r\nfaade (facade), promenade\r\n(a walk), limonade (lemon\r\ndrink) | \r\n
| -ance | \r\nenfance (childhood), naissance\r\n(birth), assurance\r\n(insurance) | \r\n
| -e | \r\nide (idea), journe\r\n(day), mosque\r\n(mosque) | \r\n
| -ence | \r\ndiffrence (difference),\r\ninnocence (innocence), influence\r\n(influence) | \r\n
| -ette | \r\ncrevette (shrimp), chaussette\r\n(sock), baguette\r\n(baguette) | \r\n
| -ie | \r\ncomdie (comedy), industrie\r\n(industry), dmographie\r\n(demography) | \r\n
| -sion | \r\nprvision (forecast),\r\ncomprhension (understanding),\r\nrvision (revision) | \r\n
| -t | \r\nsocit (society),\r\npublicit (advertising),\r\ncharit (charity) | \r\n
| -ti | \r\namiti (friendship),\r\nmoiti (half), piti\r\n(pity) | \r\n
| -tion | \r\ninformation (information),\r\nducation (education), question\r\n(question) | \r\n
| -ure | \r\nvoiture (car), couverture\r\n(blanket), confiture\r\n(jelly/jam) | \r\n