Dave and les jacobs getty images looks like you need to study more. Masculine or feminine worksheet teaching resources. French gender is complicated for french learners of all skill levels. How to conquer french gender rules in a nutshell most french teachers and fellow french speakers will tell you that theres no rhyme or reason to whether a noun is masculine or feminine. In the tables, the word is presented first in english in the left column to make it easier to find the term you need. Nov 28, 2016 french nouns and adjectives are gendered but it doesnt follow any sense or logic. This word is always written in the plural and never in the singular. Nearly all academic and scientific subjects are feminine. Both are show by the french article unein this example, however your french teacher may have withhold this information during the test if you had to memorize a list of french words.
It provides a permanent source of reference and perhaps the only comprehensive documentary evidence on the subject available today. In this article, you are going to discover a unique learn french method. French 1 paperback march 8, 20 by taylor r baldry author 5. While theres some truth to this, largely due to the longterm evolution of the french language, there are some rules and exceptions to get most nouns on. Introduction one of the main differences between english and french is the existence of gender in french nouns. If theres only one thing you take away from this article, it should be that the majority of words ending in e or ion are feminine while words with other endings are mostly masculine. After hours trying to figure out why cheveux hair is masculine and chaise chair feminine, you came to the inevitable conclusion. How to know the gender of french nouns with 80% accuracy. In french all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. In french, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. There are no real rules or logic to help you decide which article to use, statistically there are more masculine than feminine nouns. Theres no simple trick to knowing the gender of every single french noun other than looking in a dictionary, but there are several categories of words that are always or usually feminine.
In french, however, they are usually placed after the noun. May 05, 2020 if theres only one thing you take away from this article, it should be that the majority of words ending in e or ion are feminine while words with other endings are mostly masculine. Boy uncle cousin son child mother daughter aunt person girl father toddler grandfather grandmother grandchild you must write the nouns in your books under the correct heading. You can use indefinite articles in front of unnamed, unidentified, or unspecified nouns, as long as they are countable. Expand your french vocabulary related to these terms by perusing the tables below. Gender and number are part of the info and you need to learn this at the same time as you learn your french word. New words, often coming from english, like new technologies, ending in ing and isme are usually masculine. How to conquer french gender rules in a nutshell fluentu. Masculine and feminine in french french worksheets, learn. Over 100,000 french translations of english words and phrases. Nouns that change gender consider the following nouns that can be either masculine or feminine, depending upon whom you are referring. Apr 14, 2015 gender with regards to words is not something we spend a lot of time thinking about in english, but in french vocabulary every single noun will have either a masculine gender or a feminine gender. When youre ready to take your french learning to another level, learn french at. Why do they use feminine and masculine words in french.
In german, there is a difference between masculine, feminine and neutral 1. This wont hold true 100% of the time, but youre much more likely to be right if you follow this rule than if you simply guess. The second difference between french and english adjectives is their placement in a sentence. Apprendre le francais reasons to learn french, book organization. For many people its easier to remember sentences than individual words.
Adjectives are words which describe a subject and answer. Masculine and feminine in french french can be a tricky language, but you can pick up a few tips and tricks with this handy worksheet that breaks down masculine and feminine words. Nouns ending in b, c, cle, d, k, l, m, oir, p are typically masculine, but not that numerous in french. May 10, 2018 expand your french vocabulary related to these terms by perusing the tables below. Also one other word which can cause some confusion for nonnative speakers is the word for hand. French adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. In french all nouns will be either masculine or feminine and there is no neutral. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable pdf that you can take. Le bumpeur the car bumper sounds masculine because of its ending. French words ending in ier and er are masculine, such as in le fermier the farmer, lepicier the grocer, le cahier the notebook, le pommier the apple tree, le boucher the butcher, le boulanger the baker many names of professions end in ier.
French languagetextbook for foreign speakersenglish. There are exceptions to this though so keep your eyes open. Exceptions are the feminine words page page of a book and plage beach that end in. This exercise will help you take your skills to the next level. As such, it serves to confirm or deny previous notions about french gender. Study these common french nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and articles. This wont hold true 100% of the time, but youre much more likely to be right if.
In indoeuropean languages, the following grammatical genders exist. The articles agree with the nouns they refer too, so they also have a gender. With feminine and masculine words you refer to the grammatical gender of words. May 21, 2017 just as any other language that assigns a gender to things, french and all romance languages for that matter does so in an arbitrary manner for instance a car is. French masculine feminine words flashcards quizlet. However, certain words have an already specific feminine form. In french, all nouns have a genderthey are either masculine or feminine. Most of the time, when youre practicing your french, youll be practicing alone. French translation of detection the official collins englishfrench dictionary online. It is introduced by a determiner, which usually indicates the gender of the noun. In french, where do femininemasculine words come from. Le genre et le nombre des noms gender and number of nouns. Its often arbitrary, so you just have to learn them by heart. Une lettre is feminine, but letters of the alphabet are masculine, such as when talking about the grades on a report card.
That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate. A simple poster to teach first words in french for young children. Now, here are some common endings that are typically masculine. So, in theory, there are up to four different shapes for each adjective, e. As a linguist, i can tell you that some languages categorise words usually nouns. If the word ends with a double consonant and e nne mme sse tte etc. Here is a quiz for you to remembers some word gender. An easy warmup in the following problem, you will be in a situation to firstly identify nouns in a sentence and then to classify these nouns as either masculine or feminine. Each one can include an irregular verb tense, a grammar rule, and some nouns along with their masculine or feminine articles.
For example, level 1 match the cards and discuss the pronunciation. Sep 18, 2007 with feminine and masculine words you refer to the grammatical gender of words. Basically you will have to learn the gender by heart. With every french noun you learn, you must memorise the gender that corresponds with it. Masculine words, as well as describing males, often end with a consonant.
We love to use games to practice gender in french, and weve united some of our favorites to give you some ideas. Level 2 match the cards, discuss the pronunciation and then have quick fire questions whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the example cards and their partner must say the category from memory. What is the ratio of masculine and feminine words in the. Their feminine counterpart will end in ere or iere. Many of the french words are linked to audio files.
French genders, the masculine and feminine and how to use them. Masculine and feminine quiz todays french french etc. Feminine or masculine, that is the question you often ask yourself as a french learner. Learning french or any other foreign language require methodology, perseverance and love. Masculine and feminine in french, there is a difference between masculine and feminine words adjectives, nouns, determiners. Some words that appear to be masculine like le photo, which is. Visit our lessons on masculine and feminine endings to better understand how genders are assigned to nouns in french. May 22, 2017 test your knowledge of which gender the nouns are. It depends on the word, but the feminine form is most likely identical to the masculine one in this situation. Its got all the french vocabulary you need from beginner to advanced level.
Similarly, the masculine gender includes the feminine and the feminine includes the masculine. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. Feminine nouns flefamily and irregular feminine nouns le genre des noms. You may choose to have different levels of challenge. There are several masculine nouns that follow femininenoun patterns, and viceversa. Masculine and feminine, learn french genders, quiz in french. How to tell if a french noun is masculine or feminine part 1 fyw 033. The french translation for each term is listed in the right column. Apr, 2016 you may choose to have different levels of challenge. In english, we put the adjectives before the word they are describing. Though the word langue is feminine, all languages are masculine. Most literally you can ask about the ratio across all unique french words, in which case you can simply open a dictionary and count words. Mar 29, 2019 it depends on the word, but the feminine form is most likely identical to the masculine one in this situation. In the grammar it is not possible to cover the wide range of levels that exist.
French gcse revision masculinefeminine and singular. French translation of detection collins englishfrench. A mind map how to recognize masculine feminine words, articles and possessives, rules for plural words and exceptions. From masculine to feminine the masculine and feminine des nouns flefeminin des nomsregle generale feminin des noms. Just as any other language that assigns a gender to things, french and all romance languages for that matter does so in an arbitrary manner for instance a car is. Ks4ks5 revision on singularplural masculine feminine words in french. In addition to that, i included a vocabulary list about clothes and finally common phrases about origins. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable pdf that you can. Except for animals and humans, most of the time, gender is arbitrary.
Something like, in latin if a word ends in us in the nominative, first declension or something, its been ages since i took latin its masculine, but if it ends in a its feminine, and if it ends in um its neuter, although iirc there are plenty of. Gender is to some extent inherited from the latin roots of the words, where gender was to some extent determined by the way the word ended. Fluentu is one of the best tools to naturally build your vocabulary without. Masculine and feminine quiz masculin et feminin interro french words have a gender. Masculine feminine masculine or feminine task two certain animals have different. Jan 19, 2011 youre right theres a blend of masculine and feminine usage in quebec french for words borrowed from english. Heres a list of the most common french adjectives in alphabetical order with english. Aug 01, 2012 if the word ends with a strong consonant sound, then it will be feminine. Since french nouns for people as well as things can be either masculine or feminine in gender and singular or plural in number, it is necessary to know a few generalities about the gender and number of nouns and the appropriate articles that precede them.
This means that the exact shape of the adjective will change, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine gender and singular or plural number. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. It is better to check a dictionary for the feminine form in case it already exists. A table with 3 colums french word, masc or fem, english translation good resource for ongoing revision of gender. Feminine words as well as describing females, often end lle or tte or ion or ee. Make a number of pattern sentences for yourself to memorize. The animate nouns eventually branched off into masculine and feminine, and the. French expressions and vocabulary indispensable for foreigners travelling in france. The gender of some nouns makes sense homme man is masculine, femme woman is feminine but others dont. The text specifically targets learners from ab initio to intermediate or gcse level, and. For englishspeakers, this can make learning french difficult. Quiz french gender general rules this quiz is interactive at fh. It probably comes from how the ending of the word sounds.
1671 1671 763 562 323 69 1198 988 422 591 1563 1654 15 57 159 1362 1566 1144 769 640 1368 1017 1136 743 1556 122 184 1187 1572 1107 629 1239 523 1223 471 1096 794 779 339 449