The genders in French

French masculine and feminine

In French all nouns will be either masculine or feminine and there is no neutral.

There are no real rules or logic to help you decide which article to use, statistically there are more masculine than feminine nouns. Basically you will have to learn the gender by heart.

(Use to the audio player for help on pronunciation)

Articles

In English there is only one article for nouns, for example "The house". However in French the article (Le, La, Les) will depend on the gender of the noun in question. All the nouns are masculine or feminine.

For masculine nouns "The" is Le, whilst for feminine nouns "The" is La. If the noun is plural then "The" becomes Les.

For example :

  1. The boy = Le garçon
  2. The girl = La fille
  3. The houses = Les masions

Indefinate Articles

The article (un, une, des) which comes before the noun will depend on the gender of the noun in question.

For masculine nouns "A" is Un, whilst for feminine nouns "A" is Une. If the noun is plural then "Some" becomes Des.

For example :

  1. A boy = Un garçon
  2. A girl = Une fille
  3. Some houses = Des masions

Comments

If the noun begins with a vowel or the letter "H", then the article drops the letter e or a, this

For example :

  1. A bird = L'oiseau
  2. An elephant= L'éléphant
  3. A hedgehog = L'hérisson

Audio lesson