Some professions use only the masculine form, but they can refer to both men or women. You could have a group of a billion women, and just one man, and youd still refer to the group collectively as, However, this rule may change someday, as part of a movement to, make the French language more gender-neutral, Identifying Masculine & Feminine Nouns in French. Elle a t construite par le roi Arthur. Most English words used in French are masculine. Allons-y, mes amis ! Finally, you can create associations in your mind. Tisane is an alternative term for a traditional herbal or medicinal drink that is not a true type of tea (i.e., green or black). There are plenty of words in Spanish for coffee, chocolate, ice cream, hot chocolate, tea and so on. Here are some adjective gender rules you should know. The pronoun used to refer to them is ils. Masculine nouns use the definite article le and the indefinite article un, whereas feminin nouns use the definite article la and the indefinite article une. (2021, December 6). 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. I drink chamomile tea to relax before bed. In general, French nouns included in the following categories are masculine. Sometimes, the gender of the noun influences the way you conjugate the verb: The verb needs to agree in gender and number with the subject. Gender in French affects which adjectives you use with nouns, as well as which pronouns you use to describe groups of people. 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 masculine. Black tea is known to reduce the damage caused by cigarette smoking or the cigarette smoke in general. Du is a contraction of 'de le', meaning 'of the'; it is used with masculine nouns. This page will provide a breakdown of all the typical endings for both masculine and feminine nouns. There are also a few masculine foods that do end in -e. A book is masculine: un livre, a table feminine : une table. link to Pick Me Ups - Body and Mind Booster. Check your understanding by hovering over the info bubbles for simple explanations and handy tips. When you click on links and purchase items, in some cases, Frenchplanations LLC will receive a referral commission from those purchases. Masculine and Feminine in French: Learning French Nouns container.style.maxWidth = container.style.minWidth + 'px'; noun 1. le th masc a cup of tea une tasse de th a tea bag un sachet de th 2. le dner masc (evening meal) We were having tea. Proof that dreams really do come true when you can share your favorite brew. Le genre: gender of French nouns - Lingolia Improve your French with Lingolia. There are different ways to find out a noun's gender: we can look in the dictionary and check for the abbreviations m. (masculine) or f. (feminine); we can check the noun's ending, which generally gives an indication whether the noun is masculine or feminine; or we can look at the noun's article. Why? Exception: lAntarctique (Antarctica) is masculine as is the polar region of lArctique (the Arctic). Most professions ending with -e have the same spelling, whether the person is a man or a woman. container.appendChild(ins); Possessive Adjectives: His, Hers, Yours, Ours, etc. This group includes color names such as rouge (red), jaune (yellow), rose (pink), and orange (orange). Case 2: When you use the auxiliary avoir and you have a direct object before the verb. Have you tried it yet? Please disable your ad blocker for this site if you wish to use the premium features. In Spain, you will hear both t and tisana used to refer to any type of tea. Fortunately, there isnt a huge list of words presenting this particular challenge, but here are the most important ones. (= lgume) carrot 2. Siempre me pasa los chismes sobre nuestros vecinos. Nouns that end inerneed agrave accent: Ending:er>reNoun:leboulanger(baker)Masculine singularle boulangerFeminine singularla boulangreMasculine pluralles boulangersFeminine pluralles boulangres. This rule also applies to verbs and adjectives. French Food Words | Study.com Le mtal and le minral are masculine, as are all metals: Exceptions: largile (clay), la fluorite (fluorite), les pyrites (pyrite), la silice (silica). t; Pronoun []. Animal names are also either masculine or feminine in French when you refer to the generic gender of the species. To specify the animals biological gender, we add the word. In the dictionary, all French nouns bear with them an m or f, so you can easily check their gender. However, when youre learning French, these are important questions. the owner of the object, and to the gender and number of the noun. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. link to Does Making Tea In a Keurig Work? As a general rule, if you have a noun in French, there is virtually always an article in front of it, unless you use some other type of determiner such as a possessive adjective ( mon, ton, etc.) We Need Masculine Men and Feminine Women. In a few cases cases, loanwords from other languages have no established French gender. Everything is fairly easy when youre referring to only one singular noun (masculine or feminine) or to several nouns of the same gender. However, you might see some common words that are notable exceptions. All rights reserved Word Frequency tea [ti ] noun If she wants to serve her child a glass of tisane, she will call for a glass of water or ask her husband to make a pot of tea; if she wants her child to drink some th, she will simply call for the teapot and pour herself a cup. Just like a couple. In Arabic, soup and the calendar year are feminine. Explanation: The direct object que is placed before the verb faire. For example, in English, nouns are mostly neutral. Most French nouns become feminine according toregular patterns, but there are a number of irregular nouns, based on the final letter(s) of the masculine singular noun. If you've ever studied another Romance language, such as Spanish or Italian, this idea will already be familiar to you. Even though these are all feminine, we dont use an article (the or a) with most of the proper names for planets (or planetary masses). Interestingly enough, the same set of words, (She has her opinion, and he has his opinion. The Spanish language uses a mix of both masculine and feminine pronouns for its people and things. Knowing the gender of a noun in French is important because it determines: If you want to build a grammatically correct French sentence, identifying the appropriate gender of a French noun is therefore essential. Is the word du feminine or masculine in french? - Answers var alS = 1021 % 1000; The main reason for this ambiguity lies in the fact that both masculine and feminine forms are found in French. By following the rules and tips in this article, youll be able to guess the gender of a French noun accurately the majority of the time. Canadian Provinces and Territories Translated to French - ThoughtCo t - Wiktionary So to make our tea more feminine, we must change it into t-a. For example, the ending -ain is found in masculine words like le pain (bread), le bain (bath), le train (train), and un crivain (writer). French Nouns Gender - Feminine Endings - frenchtoday If you are wondering whether to use a masculine or feminine article with the word t, remember that there are two ways to make an adjective out of a noun: either by changing the noun into an adjective, or by adding an -o to the end of it. or a demonstrative adjective ( ce, cette, etc). My father went grocery shopping). Certain professions only exist in the masculine form (grammatically!) In general, French nouns included in the following categories are feminine. Browse Spanish translations from Spain, Mexico, or any other Spanish-speaking country. We would say, . Find out more at stellawriting.com. uno spuntino . Guide to French reading rules (pronunciation), Connatre Conjugation: Complete Verb Tables & Charts, Lire Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Read In French, Finir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Finish In French, Attendre Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Wait In French. It doesnt matter if there are several feminine nouns and only one masculine noun in the sentence. You only need to change the article in front of the word. (feminine the) put in front of the name of a male saint, like Jean or Patrick? However, there are some appliances that are specifically designed to make tea. Tomo t de manzanilla para relajarme antes de dormir. How to know the gender of animals in French? However, it also means tea in English, which is not a feminine word. All rights reserved. Also, there are quite a few French nouns with different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. If the countrys name ends with the vowel -e, its feminine: There are a few exceptions to this rule: le Mexique (Mexico), le Cambodge (Cambodia), le Mozambique (Mozambique), le Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe). French Possessive Adjectives: Mon, Ton, Son, and More Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol). In Spanish, the word tea is used for a wide variety of beverages from coffee to cold brew to water to iced tea to tea bags and more. Feminine or Masculine, starting with a vowel or a mute h- (an h- that acts like a vowel). The former is used in order to have a refreshing drink while the latter one is preferred for its more ceremonial atmosphere. Watch out for additional changes in words like gros (big, heavy), which adds an -se to form grosse, the feminine singular. We'll examine the basic rules of French gender. Identify French masculine nouns by their ending, Identify French masculine nouns by their category. As your French vocabulary grows, you will naturally start to recognize the patterns. Well take these one by one.