PrepMyFrench

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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

1
-age (le voyage)
2
-ment (le monument)
3
-eau (le bateau)
4
-isme (le réalisme)
5
-al (le journal)

Feminine Patterns

1
-tion (la station)
2
-sion (la décision)
3
-té (la liberté)
4
-ette (la bicyclette)
5
-ence / -ance (la différence)

People & Professions

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MasculineFeminine
un amiune amie
un avocatune avocate
un voisinune 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!

une photo (looks masc, is fem)
un squelette (looks fem, is masc