EASY WAYTO IDENTIFY MASCULINE OR FEMININE NOUNS
Masculine Nouns
Nouns Ending in -aire
le dictionnaire
dictionary
le propriétaire
owner
le vocabulaire
vocabulary
la grammaire
grammar
Exception to this ending.
Nouns Ending in -asme and -isme
le sarcasme
sarcasm
l'optimisme
optimism
le pessimisme
pessimism
le tourisme
tourism
Nouns Ending in -eau
le bateau
boat
le bureau
office
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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le chapeau
hat
le manteau
coat
Nouns Ending in -et
l'alphabet
alphabet
le billet
ticket
l'objet
object
le sujet
subject
Nouns Ending in -in
le magasin
shop
le matin
morning
le vin
wine
Nouns Ending in -ent
l'accent
accent
l'accident
accident
l'argent
money
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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Nouns Ending in -oir
l'espoir
hope
le miroir
mirror
le rasoir
razor
le soir
evening.
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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Feminine Nouns
Nouns Ending in -ade
la limonade
lemonade
la parade
parade
la promenade
walk
la salade
salad
Nouns Ending in -son
la maison
house
la raison
reason
la saison
season
Nouns Ending in -ance
l'assistance
assistance
la balance
scale
la chance
chance
la naissance
birth
Nouns Ending in -ence
la différence
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
difference
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l'essence
gasoline
la science
science
la sentence
sentence
le silence
silence
Exception to this ending.
Nouns Ending in -ande
la commande
command
la demande
request
la viande
meat
Nouns Ending in -ise
l'église
church
la fraise
strawberry
la surprise
surprise
la valise
suitcase
Nouns Ending in -son
la boisson
drink
la prison
prison
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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la chanson
song
Nouns Ending in -té
la beauté
beauty
la cité
city
la liberté
liberty
la nationalité
nationality
le côté
side
Exception to this ending.
l'été
summer
Exception to this ending.
Nouns Ending in -tié
l'amitié
friendship
la moitié
half
la pitié
pity
Nouns Ending in -ude
l'étude
study
l'habitude
habit
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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la solitude
solitude
Nouns Ending in -ture
l'aventure
adventure
la ceinture
belt
la culture
culture
la facture
invoice
la nourriture
food, nourishment
la grammaire
grammar
Some Special Gender Notes
As a rule, most French nouns have a specific gender. Some nouns, however, can use either
gender but have two different meanings, depending on the particular gender used.
Table 5-3
Nouns with Different Gender Meanings
Masculine
English
Feminine
English
le livre
book
la livre
pound
le poste
position
la poste
mail, postal service
le vase
vase
la vase
mud, slime
Rules to identify masculine or feminine words
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