French Noun Endings Can Be a Telltale Sign of Gender

French Noun Endings Can Be a Telltale Sign of Gender French gender  is a headache for many students of French. Why is manteau masculine and montre feminine? Why is  tà ©moin  always masculine and  victime  always feminine? As vexing as this subject is for nonnative speakers, we simply have to accept that French gender is here to stay. In fact, consider yourself lucky that youre studying French; in German and Latin, for instance, youd have to learn three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), and in still other languages, it gets even more complicated. It might help to know that grammatical  gender (what were discussing here) has nothing to do with natural gender, which is actual, physical gender of living beings. Linguist Andrew Livingston tells us grammatical gender is a way of classing nouns thats older than recorded history. Its deeply embedded in the DNA of an array of Indo-European languages that trace their lineage to a common ancestor, which probably needed to differentiate between the animate and the inanimate. In French, theres simply no way to know the gender of every single noun other than by memorizing the gender of each. There are, however, certain patterns in suffixes and word endings that are a tip-off. As you can see by the number of exceptions here, these gender patterns are not foolproof indicators, but they can help. Before we begin, a couple of notes: We try to list the most common and, thus, most useful exceptions; we avoid obscure exceptions. Also, to avoid confusion, we do not list  dual-gender nouns.   French Masculine Nouns Here are some suffixes that usually indicate masculine nouns, as well as some important exceptions. -ageExceptions: la cage, une image, la nage, la page, la plage, la rage -b -bleExceptions: une cible, une à ©table, une fable, une table -cException: la fac (apocope of la facultà ©) -cleException: une boucle -d -deExceptions: la bride, la merde, la mà ©thode, la pinà ¨de; -ade, -nde, -ude endings -à ©Exceptions: la clà ©, la psychà ©; sà ©, tà ©, and tià © endings -eauExceptions: leau, la peau -à ¨geException: la Norvà ¨ge -et -eurNote:  This applies mainly to names of professions and mechanical or scientific things; also see -eur in the list of feminine endings. -fExceptions: la soif, la clef, la nef -iExceptions: la foi, la fourmi, la loi, la paroi -ing -isme -k -lException: une roseval -mException: la faim -meExceptions: une alarme, une à ¢me, une arme, la cime, la coutume, la crà ¨me, là ©cume, une à ©nigme, une estime, une ferme, une firme, une forme, une larme, une plume, une rame, une rime, -mme ending -mentException: une jument -nExceptions: la faà §on, la fin, la leà §on, la main, la maman, la ranà §on; -son and -ion endings -oExceptions: la dactylo, la dynamo, la libido, la mà ©tà ©o, la moto, la steno (most of these are apocopes of longer feminine words) -oir -one -ou -p -rExceptions: la chair, la cour, la cuiller, la mer, la tour (see feminine -eur) -sExceptions: la brebis, la fois, une oasis, la souris, la vis -steExceptions: la liste, la modiste, la piste; names for people like un(e) artiste, un(e) nudiste, etc. -tExceptions: la burlat, la dent, la dot, la forà ªt, la jument, la mort, la nuit, la part, la plupart, la ziggourat -treExceptions: la fenà ªtre, une huà ®tre, la lettre, la montre, la rencontre, la vitre -uExceptions: leau, la peau, la tribu, la vertu -xExceptions: la croix, la noix, la paix, la toux, la voix Feminine Noun Endings Here are some suffixes that usually indicate feminine nouns, as well as some important exceptions. Remember, we list here the most common endings, because these will be the most useful for you to know. -aceExceptions: un ace, un palace -adeExceptions: le grade, le jade, le stade -aleExceptions: un chà ¢le, un pà ©tale, un scandale -ance -beExceptions: un cube, un globe, un microbe, un tube, un verbe -ceExceptions: un artifice, un armistice, un appendice, le bà ©nà ©fice, le caprice, le commerce, le dentifrice, le divorce, un exercice, un office, un orifice, un prà ©cipice, un prince, un sacrifice, un service, le silence, le solstice, le supplice, un vice -cà ©Exception: un crustacà © -eNote:  Most countries and names that end in e are feminine. -eeException: un pedigree -à ©eExceptions: un apogà ©e, un lycà ©e, un musà ©e, un pà ©rigà ©e, un trophà ©e -esse -eurNote: This applies mainly to abstract qualities and emotions, except le bonheur, lextà ©rieur, lhonneur, lintà ©rieur, le malheur, le meilleur. Also see -eur  on the list of masculine endings. -feException: le golfe -ieExceptions: un incendie, le foie, le gà ©nie, le parapluie, le sosie -ià ¨reExceptions: larrià ¨re, le cimetià ¨re, le derrià ¨re -ineExceptions: le capitaine, le domaine, le moine, le magazine, le patrimoine -ionExceptions: un avion, un bastion, un billion, un camion, un cation, un dominion, un espion, un ion, un lampion, un lion, un million, le morpion, un pion, un scion, un scorpion, un trillion -iqueExceptions: un graphique, un pà ©riphà ©rique -ireExceptions: un auditoire, un commentaire, un dictionnaire, un directoire, un horaire, un itinà ©raire, livoire, un laboratoire, un navire, un pourboire, le purgatoire, le rà ©pertoire, le salaire, le sommaire, le sourire, le territoire, le vocabulaire -ise -iteExceptions: lanthracite, un ermite, le granite, le graphite, le mà ©rite, lopposite, le plà ©biscite, un rite, un satellite, un site, un termite -lleExceptions: le braille, un gorille, un intervalle, un mille, un portefeuille, le vaudeville, le vermicelle, le violoncelle -mmeExceptions: un dilemme, un gramme, un programme -ndeException: le monde -nne -oleExceptions: le contrà ´le, le monopole, le rà ´le, le symbole -rreExceptions: le beurre, le parterre, le tonnerre, le verre -seExceptions: un carosse, un colosse, le gypse, linverse, un malaise, un pamplemousse, un parebrise, le suspense -sà ©Exceptions: un exposà ©, un opposà © -sion -sonExceptions: un blason, un blouson -tà ©Exceptions: un arrà ªtà ©, le comità ©, le comtà ©, le cà ´tà ©, un dà ©putà ©, un à ©tà ©, le pà ¢tà ©, le traità © -tià © -tionException: le bastion -udeExceptions: le coude, un interlude, le prà ©lude -ueException: un abaque -uleExceptions: le prà ©ambule, le scrupule, le tentacule, le testicule, le và ©hicule, le ventricule, le vestibule ï » ¿-ureExceptions: le centaure, le cyanure, le dinosaure, le murmure