Mastering Noun Gender in French
Every French noun has a gender—either masculine or feminine. Understanding this is the golden key to mastering articles and adjective agreement. Practice this with PrepMyFrench exercises to build your intuition!
The Logic of Gender
In French, gender is often grammatical rather than biological. While a man is masculine and a woman is feminine, an object like a table (la table) is feminine simply because of the word's category. To master this, we recommend checking the PrepMyFrench verb conjugator and noun guides to see how gender affects the rest of your sentence.
The Secret of Endings
While there are exceptions, the ending of a word is your best clue for guessing the gender. Use these patterns to navigate new vocabulary with confidence.
Masculine Patterns
Feminine Patterns
People & Professions
When referring to people, gender usually follows biological sex. Most professions can be converted from masculine to feminine by adding an e or changing the suffix. Learn more about Noun Plurals to see how these words behave in groups.
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| un ami | une amie |
| un avocat | une avocate |
| un voisin | une voisine |
The Trap Zone
French loves to surprise you! Some words look feminine but are masculine, and vice versa. These are the 'rebels' you simply have to memorize. Don't let them trip you up—keep practicing with PrepMyFrench!