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French Noun Gender – How To Tell If A Noun Is Masculine Or Feminine In French?

French noun gender is one of the most basic concepts of French grammar.

Understanding French genders can be challeging, especially if your native language is genderless.

Every time you come across a French noun, you’ll have to ask yourself whether this little word is a boy or a girl.

As a French coach, my goal is to help you get through this.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• Why masculine and feminine matter in French
• How to recognize the gender of French nouns
• Basic French gender rules
• Tips to memorize French gender easily

Let’s get to it!

Understanding the importance of masculine and feminine in French

The concept of grammatical genders may be a strange one to grasp if your mother tongue is a genderless language. For example, in English, nouns are mostly neutral.

In French, nouns are gendered: They are either masculin (masculine) or féminin (feminine).

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 .

In the dictionary, all French nouns bear with them an m or f , so you can easily check their gender.

Knowing the gender of a noun in French is important because it determines:

• The article used before the noun
• The form of the pronouns
• The conjugation of the verbs
• The ending of the adjectives

If you want to build a grammatically correct French sentence, identifying the appropriate gender of a French noun is therefore essential.

While recognizing the correct gender 100% of the time may be difficult due to exceptions, there are some ways to guess the gender of a French noun with high accuracy.

How to recognize masculine nouns in French?

In general, you can spot masculine nouns by checking their ending or their category .

Identify French masculine nouns by their ending

Here’s a list of the most common masculine noun endings in French .

Identify French masculine nouns by their category

In general, French nouns included in the following categories are masculine.

• Trees : le chêne (oak tree), le pommier (apple tree)
• Metals : l’or (gold), le fer (iron)
• Metric units : un mètre (meter), un kilo (kilo)
• Numbers : le dix (ten), le trente-trois (thirty-three)
• Days of the week : le lundi (Monday), le vendredi (Friday)
• Seasons : un été (summer), un hiver (winter)
• Colors : le vert (green), le bleu (blue)
• Languages : le français (French), le portugais (Portuguese)
• Wines : le Beaujolais (beaujolais) , le Pinot (pinot)
• Cheeses : le camembert (camembert), le roquefort (roquefort)
• Nouns of English origin : le tennis (tennis), le parking (parking lot)

How to recognize feminine nouns in French?

Like their masculine counterparts, you can spot feminine nouns in French by checking their ending or their category .

Identify French feminine nouns by their ending

Here’s a list of the most common feminine noun endings in French .

Identify French feminine nouns by their category

In general, French nouns included in the following categories are feminine.

• Sciences and school subjects : la médecine (medicine), la chimie (chemistry)
• Brands of cars : une Porsche (Porsche), une Renault (Renault)
• Names of businesses : la parfumerie (perfume shop), la librairie (bookshop)

How to know the gender of countries in French?

To know if a country’s name is masculine or feminine, you can also check the ending.

If the country’s name ends with the vowel -e , it’s feminine :

• la France (France)
• la Russie (Russia)
• la Chine (China)

There are a few exceptions to this rule: le Mexique (Mexico), le Cambodge (Cambodia), le Mozambique (Mozambique), le Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).

If the country’s name ends with another vowel or any other consonant, it’s masculine :

• le Canada (Canada)
• le Brésil (Brésil)
• le Japon (Japan)

How to know the gender of jobs in French?

In the past, nearly all professions had only a masculine form. Today, the majority of these same professions have been given a feminine form.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to job titles in French.

Adding an -e to create the feminine form

For some professions, simply take the masculine form and add an -e at the end to make it feminine .

• un avocat, une avocate (the lawyer)
• un écrivain, une écrivaine (a writer)
• un professeur, une professeure (a teacher)

Changing the ending to create the feminine form

For some professions, adding an -e won’t be enough. In those cases, turning the masculine into feminine requires a more important change.

Here are some common masculine endings that you can turn into feminine .

Professions that are the same in masculine and feminine forms

Most professions ending with -e have the same spelling, whether the person is a man or a woman.

• un journaliste, une journaliste (a journalist)
• un interprète, une interprète (an interpreter)
• un architecte, une architecte (an architect)

Professions that exist only in masculine form

Some professions use only the masculine form, but they can refer to both men or women. You only need to change the article in front of the word.

• un ingénieur, une ingénieur (an engineer)
• un médecin, une médecin (a docteur)
• un juge, une juge (a judge)
• un guitariste, une guitariste (a guitar player)

How to know the gender of animals in French?

Animal names are also either masculine or feminine in French when you refer to the generic gender of the species.

For example:

• un lion (a lion) and un cheval (a horse) are masculine nouns, because they refer to male animals.
• une taupe (a mole) and une poule (a hen) are feminine nouns, because they refer to female animals.

So you can’t say une lion to refer to a female lion.

But what if you want to refer to the specific gender of an animal?

In that case, you have 3 options.

• To refer to the female individual, add an -e at the end of most masculine nouns (and in some cases, double the last consonant) . For example un lion (a lion), une lionne (a lioness) or un éléphant (a male elephant), une éléphante (a female elephant).
• Some animals have specific names to refer to either a male or a female. You will have to learn those by heart. For example, for a duck, the male is called un canard , the female une cane .
• Some animals’ names don’t get modified: They use the same spelling and the same article in front of the name, whether the animal is male or female. For example, une girafe (a giraffe) is always feminine, un gorille (a gorilla) is always masculine. But then how do you refer to a male giraffe or a female gorilla? You specify the gender of the animal by using the adjective mâle (male) or femelle (female) after the noun: une girafe mâle, un gorille femelle.

Nouns that change meaning depending on their gender

Some French nouns are homographs: They have the exact same spelling, but not the same meaning.

This difference in meaning often results in a different article being used in front of the noun.

So a word with the same spelling can either be masculine or feminine, depending on what you want to say.

Fortunately, there isn’t a huge list of words presenting this particular challenge, but here are the most important ones .

• le mémoire (the thesis), la mémoire (the memory)
• un tour (a lap), une tour (a tower)
• un voile (a veil), une voile (a sail)
• un livre (a book), une livre (a pound)
• le mode (the method, the setting), une mode (fashion)
• le poste (the job position), la Poste (the post office)

French gender rules: Yes, gender does matter!

You can’t build a grammatically correct sentence in French if you don’t know the gender of the noun .

Why? Because gender has an influence on several grammatical elements .

Knowing the gender of the noun will help you decide which article to use in front of the word.

In French, there are 3 types of articles :

• Definite articles: le (masculine “the”) and la (feminine “the”)
• Indefinite articles: un (masculine “a”) and une (feminine “a”)
• Partitive articles: du (masculine “some”) and de la (feminine “some”)

Note: If a noun starts with a vowel or an -h , the definite article will change to l’ , for example l’amour (love) or l’hôtel (hotel).

Obviously, articles and noun gender go together, so the easiest way to memorize the gender of a word is to memorize the article that goes with it.

Since every French noun has a gender, you will need to use the correct pronouns. 

Remember: This applies to people, places, things and absolutely every word in French!

Let’s take an example. La ville existe depuis 1000 ans. Elle a été construite par le roi Arthur. (The city has existed for 1000 years. It was built by King Arthur.)

Explanation: la ville is feminine, so the pronoun used to refer to it is elle .

Everything is fairly easy when you’re referring to only one singular noun (masculine or feminine) or to several nouns of the same gender.

But there’s a tricky aspect of French grammar when you refer to several nouns of both genders at once .

In French, the masculine takes precedence over the feminine (Gender equality, where have you gone?).

For example: La mère, le père et la sœur de ma meilleure amie arrivent demain. Ils vont visiter Paris. (The mother, the father and the sister of my best friend arrive tomorrow. They will visit Paris.)

Explanation: la mère and la sœur are feminine, while le père is masculine. The pronoun used to refer to them is ils .

It doesn’t matter if there are several feminine nouns and only one masculine noun in the sentence.

As long as there’s even one masculine noun, you’ll need to use the masculine plural pronoun. This rule also applies to verbs and adjectives.

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.

Verb agreement is most notable with compound tenses and in two specific cases.

Case 1: When you use a compound tense with the auxiliary être

Let’s take the passé composé (arguably, the most useful compound tense in French) and conjugate the verb aller (to go) with it.

Here are the general rules to follow when it comes to verb agreement (you can see them in the table above):

• If the subject is masculine singular, no need to adjust the verb as it’s already correctly conjugated.
• If the subject is feminine singular, add an -e to the masculine singular form.
• If the subject is masculine plural, add an -s to the masculine singular form.
• If the subject is feminine plural, add -es to the masculine singular form.

In the table, the subject was a pronoun which makes verb agreement easier.

But the same rules apply if your subject is a noun, which is why you need to know it’s gender to make the correct verb agreement.

Example: Ma mère est allée à la banque. Mon père est allé faire des courses. (My mother went to the bank. My father went grocery shopping).

Case 2: When you use the auxiliary avoir and you have a direct object before the verb

In that case, you also need to make the verb agree in gender and number.

The rules and endings are the same as those seen in the previous case.

Example: La remarque que j’ai faite est utile. (The comment I made is useful).

Explanation: The direct object que is placed before the verb faire . The subject is la remarque which is a feminine and singular noun, therefore the verb is conjugated with an -e: j’ai faite .

Keep in mind that knowing the verb agreement rules are useful, but only in written French. In spoken French, there’s no difference as the pronunciation stays the same.

The adjectives also need to agree in gender and number with the noun.

Here are some adjective gender rules you should know.

For most adjectives, you just need to add -e , -s or -es to the masculine singular. Here are some examples with the adjectives Big, Green, Stubborn and Hungry.

• Masculine singular: grand, vert, têtu, affamé
• Feminine singular: grande, verte, têtue, affamée
• Masculine plural: grands, verts, têtus, affamés
• Feminine plural: grandes, vertes, têtues, affamées

If an adjective ends with an -l or -n , the same rule applies, except you need to double the consonant. Here are some examples with the adjectives Good and Kind.

• Masculine singular: bon, gentil
• Feminine singular: bonne, gentille
• Masculine plural: bons, gentils
• Feminine plural: bonnes, gentilles

If the adjective already ends with an -e , the feminine singular remains the same as the masculine singular and you just need to add an -s to the plural forms. Here are some examples with the adjectives Sad, Calm and Funny.

• Masculine singular: triste, calme, drôle
• Feminine singular: triste, calme, drôle
• Masculine plural: tristes, calmes, drôles
• Feminine plural: tristes, calmes, drôles

Other common rules include the following:

As usual with French grammar, there are several exceptions. But by knowing the most common rules of adjective agreement, you can handle the majority of French adjectives.

Tips to memorize French noun gender easily

On top of everything you learned above, here are some ways to practice learning French noun gender.

The easiest way is to always memorize the noun with its article . Don’t just learn that voiture means “car”, learn that la voiture means “the car”. By memorizing words like that, you’ll get better at dealing with French gender.

You can also memorize the noun with an adjective, since the adjective must agree with the noun. Instead of learning that la voiture means “the car”, you could learn la voiture est verte (the car is green).

Finally, you can create associations in your mind . Choose one symbol of masculinity and one symbol of femininity. When you learn a new word, associate it with its matching symbol. For example, la voiture is feminine so you could associate it with the moon, which is viewed as feminine in many cultures.

Try these tips, or make up your own, to retain nouns and their gender more easily.

The bottom line

Now you know exactly how to handle French noun genders!

By following the rules and tips in this article, you’ll be able to guess the gender of a French noun accurately the majority of the time.

You can exercise yourself by picking random nouns and trying to guess their gender. Then, learn to build a sentence around it.

Be patient with yourself though. You might not get it right on the first try, but keep trying and you’re sure to make progress along the way.

Joanna is a native French speaker, born and raised near Paris. She's passionate about teaching you the French that really matters, so you can travel and live in France with confidence.

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How to Determine French Gender for Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Masculin ou féminin ? (Masculine or feminine?)

Oh, the woes this question has brought me, you and every other French learner out there.

While there are no strict rules to memorize and follow, there are some general trends that will help you avoid getting stuck on this question.  

What Is French Gender? 

Gender agreement, how to determine french gender , typical endings of masculine nouns, typical endings of feminine nouns , masculine and feminine noun categories, derivative nouns, nouns that have masculine and feminine forms, quiz on gender of french nouns, how to master french gender, games to reinforce french gender.

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In French, nouns have grammatical gender, which means they’re classified as masculine or feminine . For example:

Masculine nouns: le livre (the book), le chat  (the cat) Feminine nouns: la table (the table), la voiture  (the car)

When you learn a French word, you’ll typically see it paired with either its definite or indefinite article :

French adjectives and articles must agree with the gender of the noun they modify. If you’re describing a feminine noun with an adjective, both the adjective and the article must be in the feminine form. For example:

Masculine: un beau lac (a beautiful lake) Feminine: une belle fleur (a beautiful flower)

In some cases, the verb must also agree with the gender of the subject (when it’s a noun) or direct object. 

Gender agreement is an essential aspect of French grammar needed to construct grammatically correct sentences. To keep genders straight, I recommend that you try to always learn new words with their genders .

Most French teachers and fellow French speakers will tell you there’s no rhyme or reason to whether a noun is masculine or feminine. While there’s some truth to this, there are some general trends to get most nouns on lock.

Be aware that there are some tricky counterintuitive noun genders, for example, le féminisme (feminism) is masculine and la masculinité (masculinity) is feminine.

Looking at the ending of a noun may be the most effective way to determine its gender when you’re stumped.

Here’s a list of common endings for masculine nouns, but keep in mind that these “rules” don’t apply 100% of the time (as you’ll see from the exceptions). 

Here are some common endings for feminine nouns in French. Again, you can’t rely on them all the time, but I still find them useful for determining the gender of many French nouns. 

Certain categories of nouns tend to be masculine or feminine. The gender of the noun category will usually match the gender of the nouns in that category as well.

For example, since un mois (a month) is masculine, names of specific months, such as décembre (December) , are masculine as well.

Here are some more common examples of masculine noun categories : 

Here are some examples of feminine noun categories :

Continents and planets in French are feminine. For example, l’Asie   (Asia) and la Terre   (Earth).

Countries that end in -e are generally feminine . For example, la France (France) and la Suisse (Switzerland).

Countries that end in a different vowel or a consonant are generally masculine . For example, le Canada (Canada) and le Japon (Japan). 

This is a pretty standard rule with only a handful of exceptions, noted below:

le Mexique (Mexico) le Bélize (Belize) le Cambodge (Cambodia) le Mozambique (Mozambique) l e Zaïre (Zaire) le Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)

Nouns derived from a verb — referring to something or someone carrying out that verb’s action — typically use the ending   -eur , and will be masculine . For example:

l’ aspirateur (the vacuum) l’ordinateur (the computer)

Nouns that are derived from adjectives and end with – eur   are feminine. For example:

la   rougeur (the redness) la largeur (the width) la pâleur (the paleness)

When talking about certain animals in French, you refer to the male version of the species with a masculine noun and the female of the species with a feminine noun. For example:

un  étalon (a stallion) / un cerf (a stag) un lion (a male lion) / une lionne (a female lion/lioness)

Although, some nouns for animals refer to both genders. For example: 

une  souris (a mouse) un cheval (a horse)

Most job titles have both a masculine and feminine form. Here are some examples:

Un professeur (a teacher) and u n écrivain (a writer) are usually only employed in the masculine.

While  une chef  (a chef) is commonly accepted in Switzerland and Francophone Quebec, only un chef is generally used in France.

Now that we’ve gone over all the basics about the gender of French nouns and the patterns they follow, it’s time to test what you’ve learned!

Take the quiz below (without looking at the answers above!) and just refresh the page if you want to start over or retake it. 

As you dive into the words and patterns above, you’ll want to have some go-to tools to apply what you’re learning. Here are some helpful places I recommend for practicing French noun gender:

• There are many useful quizzes you can use to practice French gender, like this Sporcle endings quiz , this 10-question quiz from Talk in French or these “Trial by Fire” exercises from LanguageGuide.org.
• Use Vocabulary Stickers to label things in your house with their French name . These durable (but easy-to-remove) stickers are color-coded for gender, adding a visual element for even easier memorization. 
• Consume French content like films , books, comic books , and magazines that can help you learn vocabulary (with gender) and help increase your overall fluency.

Just hover over or click on any word to see its meaning, gender, example sentences and more. Save words you struggle with into a flashcard deck and practice them with personalized quizzes on the website or by downloading the iOS or Android app.

Since French gender can be a bit of a dull topic, add some fun to your study time by playing games that will help you memorize the gender of common nouns. 

• The Flashcard Race: Make or print about 50 flashcards with a French word on one side and the gender on the other. Then start the clock! Look at the word and say it aloud with the indefinite article. For every wrong answer, add 5 seconds to the clock. Your job is to defeat your earlier time!
• The Memory Game: Make 2 sets of matching cards, one set of French words and another of genders. Then find the matches by flipping each card and finding the appropriate matching indefinite article. When you’re done, check your work against a master list. You get points for every correct match. You can also make your own Memory Match game .
• Red Light Green Light: An arbitrator with a dictionary or app stands at the front of the room or yard. They call out a word with the gender—but they can choose whether they use the correct gender or not. If the gender is correct, you may step forward. If it’s incorrect, you may not. Those who run forward when the gender is incorrect must go back to the starting line. This game is even more fun if you blindfold the participants!
• Race! Irregular Feminine Forms: One person chooses a list of 20 masculine words with a feminine form (ideally irregular). When the timer begins, the other person comes up with as many feminine forms as possible in 1 minute. All correct answers get 1 point. All unanswered words get 0 points. All incorrect answers lose 1 point. Total up, and then it’s the other person’s turn to race. This game can also be played alone.

As you delve into the fun world of the past tense, pronouns and compound tenses, you’ll find the gender of your nouns becoming more and more important.

There may seem to be no sense to it—and often there isn’t—but it’s something we French speakers must try to conquer, both beginners and fluent speakers alike!

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The Best Way to Know the Gender of French Words

Feminine  or  masculine , who never had to ask this question learning French? You probably wonder who is the sadistic guy who decided that “ a tree ” would be  masculine and “ a table ”  feminine , trying as best as you can to find out the logic behind. Here’s a quick advice: don’t try to find any logic for the gender of French nouns, there isn’t any.

“So what now?” you’re going to say, “how do I know if a have to use “ le ” or “ la ” in front of a noun?” Well, I would simply answer: “try to guess!”, and put whichever you feel sounds right!

Let me tell you a secret: if you get it wrong, it’s not a big deal, because French people would still understand what you mean. Obviously, it would sound a bit weird, but it’s okay, French people know you don’t have such a thing as noun’s gender in English, so they won’t expect you to make no mistakes. In fact, they will probably find it quite cute.

However, if you are really determined to get them all right as soon as possible, there is a small trick to help you at the beginning. Most of the time (like 75% of the time), a French word ending with an “- e ” or with “- ion ” is likely to be a  feminine word , so you would put “ la ” or “ une ” in front of it.

Let’s see a few examples:

La pomme, the apple

Une table, a table

La chambre, the bedroom

Une feuille, a leaf/sheet of paper

La fenêtre, the window

Une lumière, a light

La lampe, the lamp

Une ceinture, a belt

La jupe, the skirt

Une trousse, the pencil case

  La question,

  Une impression,

  La situation,

  Une télévision ,

  La nation,

  Une invitation ,

  La création ,

  Une illustration ,

  La fusion ,

  Une utilisation ,

Notice that the ones in “ ion ” are similar in English, you don’t even need a translation.

Masculine words usually concern all the other endings. Here are a few examples:

Le chien , the dog

Un bateau , a boat

Le lit , the bed

Un ordinateur , a computer

Le mot , the word

Un enfant , a child

Le soir , the evening

Un matin , a morning

Le Soleil , the Sun

Un cheval , a horse

Now as I said, it doesn’t always work, there are many exceptions of masculine words ending with an “- e ”, especially for words ending in “- age ”:   le voyage , the trip ;   un nuage , a cloud ;   le mariage , the wedding …

But also other random masculine words ending with an “ e ” or with “- ion ”:   le téléphone , the telephone ;   un livre , a book ;   le verre , the glass ;   un avion , a plane ;   un camion , a truck …

One more thing, when it comes to talk about real persons, the gender of the nouns logically correspond to the real gender of the person:   la mère , the mother ;   le père , the father ;   la fille , the girl ;   le garçon , the boy ;   un homme , a man ;   une femme , a woman

• 1)     All adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they qualify.

2)     All possessive pronouns/adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun used.

3)     all demonstrative pronouns/adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun used., 4)     all interrogative pronouns/adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun used..

• 5)     When conjugating a verb, the subject pronoun must agree with the gender and number of the noun it replaces.

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Why is masculine or feminine important in french.

First, let’s do a quick reminder:

The masculine articles are “ le ” (the) and “ un ” (a) .

The feminine articles are “ la ” (the) and “ une ” (a) .

The plural articles are “ les ” ( the ) and “ des ” ( some ), regardless of the word’s gender.

le/un jardin > the/a garden : masculine

la/une voiture > the/a car : feminine

les / des jardin s > the/some gardens : plural

les / des voiture s > the/some cars : plural

And remember, even if “ les ” and “ des ” are used for both masculine and feminine nouns, knowing the gender of the noun is still important, because a noun may come with following grammatical influencers. Let me explain:

There are 5 possibilities:

1)     All  adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they qualify.

Though we use “ les ” for both nouns in the plural, the corresponding adjectives still have to reflect the gender and also the number of the nouns.

Not only the spelling changes, but the pronunciation does too with the feminine form:

Indeed, since we have an “ e ” at the end, the last consonant sound is pronounced (but the “ e ” is mute).

Remember that all possessives agree with the actual gender of the noun, not if whether you are a female or male person (you cannot say “ Mon voiture ” just because you are a man for example, it’s not correct).

So you have to know how to say “this” in its masculine , feminine or plural form in order for you to be accurate.

I know it might be annoying to remember all these forms, but don’t worry for this one, because the pronunciation of Quel , Quelle , Quels , and Quelles is always [kêl].

By the way, I know this question is a bit weird, even though it’s correct ^^’ It was just for the example. In everyday life, French people would rather say:

  Quelle est cette voiture près de la maison ? > What is this car near the house?

5)     When conjugating a verb , the subject pronoun must agree with the gender and number of the noun it replaces.

Remember, the subject pronouns are: je ; tu ; il/elle/on ; nous ; vous ; ils/elles

In English, you would use “ it ” because the noun is an object, but in French we don’t have “ it ”. For French people, everything you look at is either a “ he ” or a “ she ”.

Alright, so we’ve seen 5 reasons why it’s important to know the gender of a noun in French, but in fact… there is another one!

Indeed, in French, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject when using the auxiliary verb être , to be , in the passé composé .

Je suis allé( e ) > I went

Tu es allé( e ) > You went

Il est allé > He went

Elle est allé e > She went

Nous sommes allé( e ) s > We went

Vous êtes allé( e ) s > You went

Ils sont allé s > They went

Elles sont allé e s > They went

Remember, this agreement of the past participle concerns only the verbs using the auxiliary être , to be , and not the auxiliary avoir , to have .

And don’t worry, you might as well notice that anyway, even if you add an “ e ” or an “ s ” to “ allé ”, it doesn’t change its pronunciation, and it’s usually the same for verbs using “ être ”.

Switching from Masculine to Feminine

As I said before, in French, related words must agree with each other. If the noun is feminine , the adjective describing it must also be feminine . If the noun is masculine , the pronoun replacing it must also be masculine …

The general rule to form the feminine of a word is to add an “ e ” to the masculine form:

However, if the word already finishes with an “ e ” in the masculine , it doesn’t change in the feminine .

Moreover, there are many word endings which take a graphical modification in the feminine , here are the most important ones:

– eux > – euse :   heur eux /heur euse ( happy )    ;      chanc eux /chanc euse ( lucky )

– er > – ère :   étrang er /étrang ère ( foreign )    ;      derni er / derni ère ( last )

– teur > – trice :   ac teur /ac trice ( actor )    ;      direc teur /direc trice ( director )

– (i/y)en > – (i/y)enne :   ital ien /ital ienne ( Italian )    ;      cito yen /cito yenne ( citizen )

– on > – onne :   b on /b onne ( good )    ;      patr on /patr onne ( boss )

Of course, some words are very irregular:

Note that there is a special masculine form for the last three:

beau   –>   bel

nouveau   –>   nouvel

vieux   –>   vieil

It’s pronounced exactly like the feminine form, but the spelling is different.

They are used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel in order to make the language more flowing. If, however, the adjective comes after the noun, the regular masculine form is used:

  Un bel arbre , A beautiful tree   ;    L’arbre est beau , The tree is beautiful .

  Un nouvel appartement , A new apartment   ;    L’appartement est nouveau , The apartment is new .

  Un vieil avion , An old airplane   ;    L’avion est vieux , The airplane is old .

To conclude this article, the most important thing to remember is that most words ending with an “- e ” or with “- ion ” are feminine while the rest are mostly masculine . It doesn’t always work, but it’s definitely the most effective way for you to avoid making mistakes.

Bon courage !

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The gender of French nouns very often depends on the word ending

Remembering the gender of French nouns is an aspect of learning French that people often struggle with.

Language learners are baffled when they encounter vocabulary words such as:

• « la masculinité » ( masculinity ) which is feminine in French
• « le féminisme » ( feminism ) which is masculine in French

They realize that the gender of French nouns is generally not related to the meaning of those words.

Of course, when nouns represent people, then the gender of those nouns is easy to figure out:

• « une institutrice » ( a female teacher ) is feminine in French
• « un instituteur » ( a male teacher ) is masculine in French

But most French nouns do not refer to people, so figuring out their gender is not as straightforward.

As we have seen with the first example above, semantics are of no use in predicting the gender of French nouns. However, the word ending can be very helpful in determining whether that noun is masculine or feminine.

If you are trying to remember the gender of a particular French noun, one helpful strategy is to recall another noun that ends in the same way and whose gender you already know. In many cases, these nouns will share the same gender, allowing you to determine the gender of the noun in question.

We studied tens of thousands of French nouns to see how well this theory holds in practice.

The relationship between the gender of French Nouns and their ending.

We analyzed 62985 French nouns to examine the relationship between word endings and gender. Here is what we found:

Most French nouns which end in ‘ie’ are feminine :

The gender of French nouns ending in “ie” was found to be feminine in 98.5% of the cases.

(8% of French nouns end in “ie” and 98.5% of those are feminine)

Here are some example of French nouns ending in “-ie” which have the feminine grammatical gender:

• une biographie
• une diplomatie
• une philosophie
• une allergie
• une énergie
• une batterie
• une théorie

The following French nouns are an exception to this pattern. They have the masculine grammatical gender despite ending in “-ie”.

• un parapluie
• un incendie

French nouns ending in ‘tion’ are almost always feminine :

Most French nouns ending in “-tion” are borrowed from Latin nouns ending in “-tiō”.

As these Latin nouns are typically feminine, the gender of these nouns has been preserved in French.

• “équation” comes from the Latin noun “aequātiō” and both have the feminine grammatical gender
• “inscription” comes from the Latin noun “īnscrīptiō” (f)
• “direction” from “dīrēctiō” (f)
• “fraction” from “frāctiō” (f)
• “complication” from “complicātiō” (f)
• “admiration” from “admīrātiō” (f)
• “option” from “optiō” (f)
• “sanction” from “sānctiō” (f)

Statistically, 4% of French nouns end in ‘tion’ and 99.5% of these are feminine.

• une admiration
• une perception
• une fraction
• une sanction
• une direction
• une complication
• une inauguration
• une inscription
• une compilation
• une équation

French nouns ending in ‘eur’ are very often masculine :

3% of French nouns end in “eur” and 96% of those were found to be masculine.

• un ordinateur
• un mélangeur
• un vidéoprojecteur
• un ascenseur
• un ambassadeur

Some exceptions include:

• une douceur
• une chaleur
• une couleur

French nouns ending in ‘ge’ are most often masculine :

2.7% of French nouns end in “ge”, and 95% of those were found to be masculine.

French nouns ending in ‘isme’ are typically always masculine :

French nouns ending in ‘isme’ often represent ideologies or doctrines.

Some of these nouns describe political ideologies such as “socialisme”, philosophical theories such as “existentialisme”, or artistic movements such as “cubisme” and “impressionnisme”.

French nouns ending in “-isme” account for 2.5% of all French nouns, and 100% of these were found to be masculine.

Here are some examples of French nouns ending in ‘isme’:

• le communisme
• le libéralisme
• le socialisme
• le féminisme
• un fascisme
• un néologisme
• un anglicisme

French nouns ending in ‘té’ are most often feminine :

French nouns ending in ‘-té’ often represent abstract concepts, and many of these are derived from Latin nouns ending in “-tās” which are typically feminine as well.

• The French noun “liberté” is feminine and it comes from the Latin noun “lībertās” (which is also féminine)
• “qualité” (f) comes from the Latin noun “qualitās” (f)
• “vanité” (f) comes from the latin noun “vānitās” (f)
• “amabilité” (f) comes from the Latin noun “amābilitās” (f)
• “civilité” (f) comes from the Latin noun “cīvīlitās” (f)

The gender of French nouns ending in “té” was found to be feminine in 96% of the cases. (2.3% of French nouns end in “té”, 96% of those are feminine)

• une liberté
• une solidarité
• une civilité
• une volonté
• une célérité
• une qualité
• une amabilité
• une neutralité
• une authenticité

Exceptions include:

• un décolleté

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ent’ or ‘ant’ (same phonetics) :

2% of French nouns were found to end in “ent” or “ant” and over 99% of those are masculine

• un gouvernement
• un appartement
• un identifiant
• un déodorant
• un restaurant
• un enseignement
• un monument
• un événement
• un classement
• un changement

French nouns ending in ‘ier’ are typically always masculine :

French nouns ending in “ier” accounted for 1.5% of the words analyzed. These nouns often refer to physical objects and were consistently found to be masculine in gender.

• un escalier
• un bouclier

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ien’ :

1.5% of French nouns end in “ien”, and they were all found to be masculine.

Examples: un physicien, un bohémien

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘lle’ :

1.2% of French nouns end in “lle” and 90% of those were feminine.

Examples: une abeille, une corbeille, une bouteille, une feuille

exceptions include: un bacille, un portefeuille

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘et’ :

1% of French nouns end in “et” and those are almost all masculine.

• un alphabet
• un bracelet

The only feminine word found that ends in ‘et’ is la jet-set

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ette’ :

French nouns ending in “-ette” often refer to things which are physical objects.

Statistically, 1% of French nouns end in “-ette” and 98% of those are feminine.

Here are some example of French nouns ending in “-ette” which have the feminine grammatical gender:

• une baguette
• une omelette
• une recette
• une assiette
• une serviette
• une bicyclette
• une chaussette
• une casquette
• une vinaigrette
• une cachette

Exceptions to this pattern are very few and include: “un squelette”, “un quintette”.

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ée’ :

About 1% of French nouns end in “ée” and over 90% of those are feminine.

• une matinée
• une randonnée

exceptions include:

• un scarabée
• un mausolée

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘in’ :

1% of French nouns end in “in” and 99% of these are masculine.

Examples of French nouns ending in “-in” which have the masculine grammatical gender:

Some rare exceptions include: une fin, une putain

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ence’ or ‘ance’ (same phonetic)

French nouns ending with “ence” or “ance” often refer to concepts or abstract ideas rather than physical objects. This group accounts for approximately 0.8% of the word in this study, and nearly all are feminine.

• une science
• une compétence
• une résistance
• une intelligence
• une confiance
• une audience
• une confidence
• une importance
• une ambiance
• une arrogance
• une croissance
• une existence
• une conférence
• une urgence
• une différence

An exception is the French noun “silence” which has the masculine grammatical gender (“un silence”).

French nouns ending in ‘esse’ are typically always feminine :

0.5% of French nouns end in “esse” and all of them were found to be feminine.

• une jeunesse
• une sagesse
• une finesse
• une faiblesse
• une maladresse
• une richesse
• une politesse
• une vîtesse

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘eau’ :

0.5% of French nouns end in “eau” and 98% of these were found to be masculine.

Exceptions include: une eau, une peau

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘ière’ :

0.6% of French nouns end in ‘ière’ and 98% of those are feminine.

Examples: une lumière, une poussière, une théière

Exceptions include: un cimetière

The gender of French nouns ending in ‘oir’ :

0.4% of the French nouns ended in “oir” and those were all found to be masculine

• un trottoir

This analysis shows that the ending of French nouns can be very helpful for predicting their gender.

Gender Of French Nouns: Masculine vs. Feminine

One of the most difficult aspects of learning French is learn the gender rules for nouns. All French nouns have a gender (masculine or feminine) and take the direct articles le and la or indirect articles un and une . The goal of this page is to help students master the gender of French nouns.

Guide to French gender of nouns (masculine vs. feminine)

Unfortunately, there’s no hard and fast way to simply master noun gender rules in French. Feminine nous in French often end in the letter -e . However, unlike Spanish, where feminine noun almost always end in -a, nouns ending in -e in French are not necessarily feminine.

The best way to learn the gender of French nouns is to focus on the sounds and spelling patterns of teh endings words. This page will provide a breakdown of all the typical endings for both masculine and feminine nouns.

It is impossible to learn the genders of all nouns in one sitting. However, as time goes by, you’ll come to develop an innate sense or feeling of which nouns are masculine and which nouns are feminine.

Our suggestion is to focus on the sound or pronunciation of each ending as this will give a hint of the noun’s gender. However, there are exceptions to each sound or spelling pattern, which we will highlight below.

We found the website ezglot.com very useful to come up with the word lists on this page. Where useful, we’ve used Forvo.com as well to provide guidance for pronunciation.

Also note that to best use this page, it’s useful to be familiar with the international pronunciation symbols as they apply to French. We suggest the book Exercises in French Phonics for this purpose.

Common masculine nouns endings

In this section we’ll present word endings and spelling patterns for words which are typically masculine. We all present the exceptions where applicable.

-age, -ige, -ège, -oge, -uge

Nous ending in -ge are typically masculine. You can use the word âge (age) as a base word for this group. The sound of this -g is expressed by the phonetic symbol [ʒ]. This page on Forvo demonstrates the pronunciation of âge .

• le fromage cheese
• l’âge age
• le juge judge
• le mariage marriage
• le garage garage
• le siège seat

However, there there are the following feminine exceptions:

• l’horloge clock
• la tige stem
• la luge sled
• la page page

-ail, -euil

Words ending in -ail and -euil are typically masculine with no exceptions. “Ail” sounds like the English word “eye”. The “euil” ending is very difficult to pronounce. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce écureuil (squirrel).

• le détail detail
• le rail rail
• le travail work
• le deuil mourning
• l’écureuil squirrel

Words ending in -ain are always masculine with one exception: la main (hand). “Ain” has the pronunciation of nasal -in . This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce le train .

• le train train
• le bain bath
• le terrain terrain
• le lendemain next day

Words ending in -al are always masculine and there are no exceptions. These words are often very similar in English.

• le rival rival
• le total total
• le canal canal
• le cheval horse
• le bocal jar
• l’hôpital hospital

-ament, -ement

Nouns ending in -ment are always masculine and there are no exceptions. “Ment” is pronounced m + nasal -en phonetic symbol [mɑ̃]. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce médicament .

• le filament filament
• le testament will
• le tempérament temperament
• le vêtement clothing
• le paiement payment
• le logement housing

Words ending in -ard are always masculine without any exceptions. The pronunciation stops on the -r . This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce homard (lobster).

• le renard fox
• le canard duck
• le léopard lepard
• le clochard bum
• le connard jerk

Nouns ending in -eau and -ou are masculine. However, there are some exceptions. “Eau” sounds like “oh” as in “oh my gosh!”. “Ou” sounds like “oo” as in “food”.

• le gâteau cake
• le niveau level
• le clou nail
• le bisou kiss

Big exceptions are:

• l’eau (f) water
• la peau skin

Nouns ending in -el are masculine and there are no exceptions.

• le sel salt
• le miel honey
• l’appel call
• le ciel sky

Nouns ending in -ent and -ant both end in a nasal [ɑ̃] and the final -t is not pronounced. For example le ciment (cement).

• le moment moment
• le talent talent
• le serpent snake
• le géant giant
• le volant steering wheel
• l’enfant child

Nouns ending in -er are all masculine with no exceptions. Sometimes the -er sounds like -ay as in “play” and sometimes the -r is pronounced.

• l’hiver winter
• le danger danger
• le fer iron
• le boulanger baker

Nouns ending in -ier and -yer are always masculine with no exceptions.

• le clavier keyboard
• le métier career
• le papier paper
• le loyer rent

-at, -et, t

Nouns ending in -at, -et, -t are often masculine. However, there are exceptions.

• l’alphabet alphabet
• le baccalauréat baccalaureate, high school diploma
• le candidat candidate
• le débat debate

Be careful of the exceptions as they’re commonly used words.

• la nuit ni g ht
• la forêt forest
• la plupart majority
• la mort death

Nouns ending in -eur are almost always masculine. However, there are exceptions. This link on Forvo shows how to pronounce ordinateur (computer).

• l’ordinateur computer
• le buveur drinker
• le joueur player
• l’acteur actor
• le bonheur joy, happiness
• le malheur misfortune, hardship

Exceptions:

• la sueur sweat
• la peur fear
• la fleur flower
• la vapeur vapor, steam
• l’odeur odor, smell

French nouns ending in -ien are always masculine with no exceptions. Words ending in -ien sound like the nasal -in or [ɛ̃] sound. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce chien (dog).

• le chien dog
• le soutien support
• le Parisien Parisian
• l’olympien olympian

Nouns ending in -illon are always masculine and sound like “ee + nasal -on [ɔ̃]”. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce papillon (butterfly).

• le papillon butterfly
• le pavillon pavilion
• l’échantillon sample

Nouns ending in -in are always masculine without exceptions. The -in is a nasal sound [ɛ̃]. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce dessin (drawing).

• le dessin drawing
• le lapin rabbit
• le câlin cuddle
• le requin shark

Nouns ending in -is are always masculine without exceptions. The pronunciation of -is is “ee” as in “feet” .

• l’avis mind
• le colis package
• le devis quote, bid
• le compromis compromise

All nouns ending in -isme are masculine with no exceptions. There are the “ism” words in English. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce communisme (communism).

• le communisme communism
• le réalisme realism
• le séisme tremor
• le socialisme socialism
• l’impérialisme imperialism

Nouns ending in -oir and -oin are always masculine with no exceptions. “Oir” sounds like “wahr”. “Oin” is a bit tricky to pronounce. This lesson covers the word besoin (need).

• le soir evening
• l’espoir hope
• le trottoir sidewalk
• le témoin witness
• le besoin need

Nouns ending in -on and -om are often masculine. However, there are exceptions. Both sounds are are nasal [ɔ̃]. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce prénom (first name).

• le prénom first name
• le salon living room
• le cornichon pickle
• le surnom last name
• la façon way, manner
• la leçon lesson
• la chanson song
• la boisson beverage

Nouns ending in -phone are always masculine without exceptions.

• le téléphone telephone
• le microphone microphone
• le francophone French speaker

Words ending -scope are masculine without exceptions.

• le télescope telescope
• l’horoscope horoscope
• le magnétoscope video recorder, VCR

Nouns ending in -a and -as are generally masculine. However, there are some exceptions for words ending in -a .

• l’agenda datebook
• le pyjama pyjamas
• le bras arm
• le repas meal
• l’ananas pineapple
• le verglas glass
• la saga saga
• la villa villa
• la mafia mafia

-è/ô/au + me

All French nouns ending in -ème, -ôme and -aume are masculine without exceptions.

• le problème problem
• le poème poem
• l’arôme aroma, smell
• le royaume kingdom

-b/c/g/p + le

Most French nouns ending in -ble, -cle, -gle and -ple are masculine. However, there are some excpetions.

• le sable sand
• le temple temple
• le peuple people
• le muscle muscle
• le couple couple
• la jungle jungle
• la table table
• la règle rule

-ac, -ak, -ic, -ou, -uc

All French nouns ending in le truc, le lac, l’anorak, le bloc are masculine without exceptions.

• le truc thing
• le lac lake
• l’anorak winter jacket
• le bloc block
• le tabac tobacco
• l’estomac stomach

Nouns ending -ng are masculine without. For the two sample words below, the -ang is pronounced like a nasal [ɑ̃] and the final -g is silent. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce étang (pond).

• l’étang pond
• le sang blood

-o, -op, -os, -ot, -ours, -us

Nouns with the endings -o, -op, -os, -ot, -ours and -us are masculine. There are no exceptions.

• le jus juice
• l’ours bear
• l’os bear
• le discours speech
• le chiot puppy

Nous ending in -r and -re are often masculine. However, there are lots of exceptions.

• le jour day
• l’avenir future
• le dollar dollar
• le centre center
• le mètre meter
• le ventre stomach
• la cour courtyard
• la tour tower
• la cire wax
• la poire pear
• la fenêtre window
• la montre watch

Nous ending in -x and -xe are often masculine. However, there are exceptions.

• le luxe luxury
• le circonflexe circumflex
• le réflexe reflex
• la paix peace
• la boxe boxing
• la taxe taxes

Common feminine nouns endings

In this section we’ll present endings and spelling patterns of nouns which are typically feminine in French. Similar to the above section, we’ll show the exceptions where applicable.

Nouns ending in -ade in French are typically feminine. There is, however an exception.

• la salade salad
• la façade facade
• la cascade waterfall
• la ballade walk
• l’ambassade embassy
• le stade stadium

Nouns ending in -aie are feminine without exceptions.

• la craie chalk
• la baie bay
• la paie peace
• la monnaie currency, change

-aine, -ine

Nouns ending in -aine and -ine are typically feminine. However, there is an exception. “Aine” is pronounced [ɛn]. Here’s sample of the pronunciation of “ laine “ (wool).

• la haine hatred
• la laine wool
• la plaine plains, prairie
• l’asperine asperine
• le domaine domain

-aison, -oison

Nouns ending in -aison and -oison are typically feminine. However, there are exceptions. “Saison” is pronounced [sɛzɔ̃] and “poison” (poison) is pronounced [pwazɔ̃].

• la saison season
• la liaison liaison, link, contact
• la maison house
• la cloison partition
• le poison poison

-ence, -ance

Words ending in -ence and -ance are feminine without exceptions. Both the -en and -an in these words is nasal [ɑ̃].

• la distance distance
• l’urgence emergency, crisis
• la science science
• l’enfance childhood
• la puissance power

Nouns ending in -ande are feminine without exceptions. The “an” in these words is also a nasal [ɑ̃].

• la viande meat
• l’amande almond
• la lavande lavender
• la demande request, application

Words ending in -ée are typically feminine. There are, however, many exceptions. “-É” sounds like [ay] and is covered on our French accents page.

• l’année year
• l’idée idea
• la durée duration
• la fumée smoke
• l’allée lane, alley
• le lycée high school
• le trophée trophy
• le musée museum

-esse, -osse, -ousse

Nouns ending in -esse, -osse, and -ousse are feminine without exceptions.

• la jeunesse youth
• la sagesse wisdom
• l’hôtesse hostess
• la brosse brush
• la mousse foam, mousse

Nouns ending in -ette are always feminine without exceptions.

• la baguette baguette
• la mouette seagull
• la tirette pull-out shelf, ATM machine
• la canette can, duckling
• la dette debt
• la cuvette basin, bowl

Nouns ending in -ie and -rie are typically feminine. However, there are exceptions.

• l’envie envy, desire
• la série series
• la copie copy
• la vie life
• la poésie poetry
• le génie genius
• l’incendie fire

Nouns ending in -ise are always feminine without exceptions.

• la bêtise mistake
• la cerise cherry
• la bise kiss
• la fraise strawberry
• l’entreprise company
• la prise light socket
• la crise crisis

Nouns ending in -aille are always feminine without exceptions. “ Taille “ (size), for example, is pronounced [tɑj]. The -ll i s silent.

• la pagaille mess
• la volaille poultry
• la taille size

Nouns ending in -ille are always feminine. Sometimes the -ll’s are pronounced and sometimes they have a slight “y” sound.

• la ville city
• la famille family
• la lentille lentil, lens
• l’aiguille needle
• la vanille vanilla

Nouns ending in -ouille are always feminine. This page on Forvo shows how to pronounce “ grenouille “ (frog).

• l’andouille andouille, sausage, fool
• la grenouille frog
• la ratatouille stew
• la rouille rust
• la brouille quarrel

Many nouns ending in -ique are feminine. However, there are several exceptions.

• la musique music
• la logique logic
• la panique panic
• la critique review
• le moustique mosquito
• le plastique plastic
• le pique-nique picnic

-gion, -nion, -sion, -ssion

Nouns ending in -gion, -nion, -sion and -ssion are feminine without exceptions.

• la religion religion
• l’opinion opinion
• l’oppression oppression
• la pression pressure

-tion, -xion

Nouns ending -tion and -xion are always feminine.

• la procrastination procrastination
• la justification justification
• la crucifixion crucifixion
• la gestion management
• la ration ration, part

Be careful. Some words ending in -ion are masculine:

• l’avion airplane
• le champion champion

-ite, -té, -tié

Nouns ending in -ite, -té and -tié tend to be feminine. However, there are exceptions.

• l’amitié friendship
• la santé health
• la pitié pity
• l’identité identity

Excpetions:

• l’été summer
• le compté county
• le gite guest house
• le site site

-ode, -tude

Nouns ending in -ode and -tude tend to be feminine. However, there are exceptions.

• la période period
• l’électrode electrode
• la pagode pagoda
• la mode fashion
• l’attitude attitude
• la solitude solitude
• l’habitude habit
• la magnitude magnitude
• l’exode exodus
• le code code

Nouns ending in -ure are feminine without exceptions.

• l’allure appearance
• la gelure frostbite
• l’ordure garbage
• la toiture roofing
• la voiture car
• la nature nature

Nouns ending in -ice tend to be feminine. However, there are exceptions.

• la novice novice
• la malice mischief
• l’épice spice
• le dentifrice tooth paste
• l’indice clue, hint
• le service service, favor

-aire, -oire

Nouns ending in -aire and -oire tend to be feminine. However, there are exceptions.

• la gloire glory
• la grammaire grammar
• l’anniversaire birthday
• l’affaire affair, business
• le vocabulaire vocabulary
• le dictionnaire dictionary

-oi, -ois, -oix

Nouns ending in -oi, -ois and -oix tend to be feminine. However, there is an exception.

• la voie lane
• la voix voice
• la fois time
• le choix choice

Gender of French Nouns: Additional Notes

Nouns for males are masculine and nouns for females are feminine.

• l’homme  the man
• le garçon  the boy
• la femme  the woman
• la fille  the girl

Lots of nouns become feminine by simply adding an -e-.

• le voisin -> la voisine  neighbor
• le cousin -> la cousine  cousin
• l’ami -> l’amie  friend

In certain situations the noun ending changes to form the feminine form.

• -ien -> ienne le musicien, la musicienne  musician
• -on -> onne le vigneron, la vigneronne  wine grower
• -eur -> euse serveur, serveuse  server
• -teur -> trice directeur, directrice  director
• -er -> ière infirmier, infirmière  nurse

Several professions become feminine by simply adding an -e-.

• l’avocat, l’avocate  laywer
• le magistrat, la magistrate  judge
• le marchand, la marchande  merchant, trader

Some professions are the same in both the masculine the feminine forms.

• le dentiste, la dentiste dentist
• le vétérinaire, la vétérinaire  veterinarian
• l’architecte, l’architecte  architect

Some nouns are the same in both forms.

• l’artiste artist -> same in masculine and feminine
• le/la camarade  friend, associate
• l’élève  classmate
• l’enfant  child

Some nouns for professions are always masculine even if the person being mentioned is a woman.

• le docteur  doctor
• le juge  judge
• le compositeur  composer
• le professeur  teacher/professor
• le peintre  painter
• le ministre  minister
• le médecin  doctor

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David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on FrenchLearner, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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Noun Genders in French: Rules, tips, and clues

If you’ve ever studied French, you may have wondered why the word for “la table” is feminine, while “le sofa” is masculine. The concept of French noun gender can be baffling for English speakers, which is why we’ve prepared this post to help you understand it.

At its most basic, the definition of noun gender  is that every noun (a person, place, thing, or idea) has a grammatical gender ( masculine  or feminine in French). Think of it simply as a way to classify nouns into different categories.

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You may know that French is a Romance language , which means that it’s derived from Latin . In Latin, there are actually three noun genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. As French gradually evolved from Latin, the neuter gender disappeared and French speakers designated all their nouns as either masculine or feminine. Nouns in other gendered languages, even other Romance languages, might have different genders than they do in French!

In this post we’ll do a deep dive into the world of noun genders in French . We’ll start off with the basic concepts  surrounding the gender of nouns in French, namely that gender is primarily a grammatical construct  rather than anything related to biology.

We’ll then move on to our sections on how to tell if a French word is masculine or feminine, starting by identifying them by their articles  or through other words in the sentence  that refer back to the noun through gender agreement . Then we’ll look at a series of typical word endings  that usually indicate a French noun’s gender.

Our last big section will focus more on people and animals , breaking down how noun gender reflects biological genders or not . We include sections on nouns that can take either gender , and on how to approach people’s societal roles  where there are masculine and feminine versions  of the nouns that describe them.

If there are certain aspects of French noun gender that you’re looking for in particular, scroll down and you’ll surely find a section on it. For the full lesson, read on. For even more, we include lots of links to other specific lessons  throughout the text. Now without further ado, let’s get started with our post on noun genders in French !

The basic concept of French word gender

First, let’s just remember that a noun  is simply a word that describes a person, a place, or a thing . As we’ve just mentioned, all nouns  are classified as either masculine or feminine  in French.

At its most basic, a French word’s gender may indeed correspond with an unambiguous biological gender  of the noun. Even in English, some of these same French gendered nouns  are obviously either masculine or feminine. You’ll always think of a bull, rooster, or policeman as masculine , whereas a hen, mare, or actress will always be feminine .

For the majority of French nouns, however, there’s little indication from the attributes of the person, place, or thing whether the word for this noun should be masculine or feminine. In most cases, the gender of French words  is more a product of how the word is spelled  than what it represents.

The concept of French word gender therefore relies on a decoupling from any biological associations , and instead a focus on the role of French noun gender in speech and grammar. In other words, for most French nouns, gender is based strictly on how the word is spelled or pronounced  rather than on any perceived masculine or feminine attributes of the person, place, or thing itself.

So although the gender of nouns may often seem arbitrary , there are some general rules  that can help us determine the word’s gender. In the rest of this post, we’ll consider how to know if something is masculine or feminine  in French.

Identifying noun gender: French gender rules

Now that we’ve covered the basics of French gendered nouns, let’s look at how to know if a word is masculine or feminine in French . In the following sections, we’ll walk you through strategies for recognizing French noun gender , both through clues from other words in the sentence, and based on the spelling of the French nouns themselves.

The first strategy for determining a noun’s gender in French is to look at its article. An article is a word that introduces a noun as a noun and indicates whether it’s a specific one or just one in general.

This dichotomy relates to two main categories of articles in French : definite and indefinite. The definite articles  in French are le , la , and les , which all translate as the  in English. The indefinite articles  in French are un , une , and des , which translate as a , an , and some .

Here are the definite and indefinite articles  in French that correspond to masculine, feminine, and plural nouns.

When learning new vocabulary in French, it’s a good idea to memorize a noun’s article  along with its meaning. This association will help train your brain to recognize the noun’s gender when you see or hear it.

The masculine definite article le  is used with singular masculine nouns . If a noun begins with a vowel sound, however, the article is contracted to l’ to avoid vowel clash. In the case of l’ , the article does not indicate the gender of the word. Singular masculine nouns take the indefinite article un .

• l’ hôpital / un  hôpital – the  hospital / a  hospital
• le  rideau / un  rideau – the  curtain / a  curtain

Single feminine nouns  take the feminine definite article la . The same rule applies to feminine nouns that begin with a vowel sound, with the la  contracted to l’ . Singular feminine nouns take the indefinite article une .

• la  porte / une  porte – the  door / a  door
• l’ étagère / une  étagère – the  bookshelf / a  bookshelf

The definite article le contracts with the prepositions à (meaning at  or to ) and de (meaning from  or of ): à + le = au  and de + le = du . These à contractions  and de contractions  can therefore also be used to determine a noun’s gender in French. For nouns that begin with vowel sounds, however, the ambiguous à l’ or de l’  still doesn’t indicate their gender.

• Tu es allé au  musée ? – Did you go to the  museum? ( musée is masculine)
• Ces araignées viennent du  grenier. – These spiders come from the  attic. ( grenier  is masculine)

Unlike other gendered languages like Spanish, with its gendered plural articles los/las and unos/unas , the plural articles in French do not indicate gender : les and des  are used for both masculine and feminine plural nouns. The same goes for the contractions we mentioned above: à + les = aux  and de + les = des .

So while plural articles won’t help to identify plural nouns’ genders, at least this makes it easy if you don’t know a noun’s gender: just talk about more than one of them!

• Deux croissants (masculine) et deux baguettes (feminine), s’il vous plaît. – Two croissants and two baguettes, please.

Gender agreement

In addition to the articles we discussed above, the gender of French nouns is often reflected in other words  of the sentence. This grammatical practice is known as gender agreement,  and it affects several classes of words that interact directly with the French noun in the sentence.

This is an entire topic in and of itself, so it will soon be the subject of a dedicated post here on our blog. It’s also a concept that we regularly bring up in our specific posts on the various grammatical lessons where it occurs.

In fact, just using the correct masculine or feminine articles that we saw above is the easiest example of gender agreement between words. Other words that behave similarly to the articles are possessive adjectives  and demonstrative adjectives , for example.

• As-tu vu mon  couteau ? Ce  couteau n’est pas à moi. – Have you seen my  knife? This  knife is not mine. (un couteau  is masculine)
• Non, mais j’ai emprunté ta  spatule. Cette  spatule est à toi, n’est-ce pas ? – No, but I borrowed your  spatula. This  spatula is yours, right? (une spatule  is feminine)

Likewise, possessive pronouns  and demonstrative pronouns  also need to agree with the noun they refer to.

• Ah oui, ma spatule! Oui, celle-là  est la mienne . – Oh, my spatula! Yes, that one  is mine .
• Et le couteau que j’ai utilisé ? Ceci  doit être le tien  aussi. – And the knife I’ve been using? This one  must be yours  too.

Even subject pronouns  and object pronouns  need to match the noun’s gender. There is no neutral French pronoun  equivalent to it .

• Oui, c’est mon couteau. Il  fonctionne très bien. Comment tu le  trouves ? – Yes, it’s my knife. It  functions very well. How do you find it ?
• Il est mieux que ta spatule. Elle  plie trop. Je veux te la  rendre. – It’s better than your spatula. It  bends too much. I want to give it  back to you.

Perhaps the best examples of gender agreement can be seen in adjectives  and past participles , whose endings often need to change to reflect whether a French noun is masculine or feminine.

• Tu as raison, cette spatule est assez vieille , mais je crois que tu l’as abusée ! – You’re right, this spatula is pretty old , but I think that you abused  it!
• Ce n’est pas grave. Ton couteau est assez vieux  aussi, mais il fonctionne très bien même si je l’ai abusé  autant! – It’s no big deal. Your knife is pretty old  too, but it functions quite well even though I’ve abused  it just as much!

As we’ve seen through these examples, the grammatical genders of un couteau  and une spatule  were reflected in a variety of other words in these sentences. Gender agreement  is thus one way to recognize a word’s gender , though it’s also admittedly a challenge to always respect  if you’re not sure of the word’s gender in the first place.

Typical gendered noun endings

Independently of any other words, a decent strategy for determining a noun’s gender  in French is to look at the noun’s ending : certain combinations of letters can indicate whether the word is masculine or feminine.

Be forewarned, however, that there are always exceptions  with French noun gender! The endings we list here can give you a good clue about a French noun’s gender, but will not necessarily be accurate every time. Just like many aspects of learning French, exceptions need to be learned individually.

In addition to the typical word endings indicating one gender or another we’ve just seen, there are corresponding masculine and feminine endings that are used specifically for professions and other societal roles . Scroll down to that section for a list of these typical word endings for French professions.

French nouns with an apparent gender

Sometimes the gender of a French noun has a clear link to the apparent gender of what the word describes . This is mostly the case for people , while it can also apply to certain animals as well. We’ll take a look at such cases in the next few sections.

People with an obvious biological gender

On the easiest end of the spectrum, a French word’s gender aligns with an obvious biological gender , namely with nouns that refer to people. For most words related to family vocabulary , for example, the word’s gender reflects the actual gender of the person.

• Masculine: un homme – a man
• Feminine: une femme – a woman
• Masculine: un frère – a brother
• Feminine: une sœur – a sister

Words for people that don’t refer to gender

For some people, however, there’s no obvious gender . In these cases, the gender of the French word is independent of the person’s inherent gender.

• Masculine: un bébé – a baby (whether a boy or a girl)
• Masculine: un parent – a parent (whether a father or a mother)
• Feminine: une personne – a person (whether male, female, or unknown)
• Feminine: une famille – a family (regardless of the genders of the family members)

Remember that designating the noun as masculine or feminine has no bearing on the biological gender! A baby girl is still “un bébé” (masculine), while a man is still “une personne” (feminine), since these are simply the genders of the corresponding words!

Words for people’s roles

In English you also have gendered words for professions , such as waiter vs waitress, steward vs stewardess, or host vs hostess. This practice is even more widespread in French, covering a lot of different societal roles  with both masculine and feminine versions of their corresponding nouns.

For many such nouns, we can identify the gender of the word based on its ending. In these examples, the feminine versions of the nouns end in -se  and -e .

• Masculine: un serveur – a [male] server, a waiter
• Feminine: une serveu se  – a [female] server, a waitress
• Masculine: un avocat – a [male] lawyer
• Feminine: une avocat e  – a [female] lawyer

This same phenomenon extends beyond professions to other roles people play in society , with just slight differences between the masculine and feminine nouns. Here, too, the feminine version just takes an additional -e .

• Masculine: un ami – a [male] friend
• Feminine: une ami e  – a [female] friend
• Masculine: un cousin – a [male] cousin
• Feminine: une cousin e  – a [female] cousin

When speaking, this additional -e changes the pronunciation of a word if it’s preceded by a consonant. For the feminine versions, we stress the final consonant sound.

• Masculine: un président – a [male] president
• Feminine: une président e  – a [female] president
• Masculine: un voisin – a [male] neighbor
• Feminine: une voisin e  – a [female] neighbor

For other professions and societal roles, the feminine versions of the noun take different endings or require the addition of accents. In most cases, these endings will change the pronunciation of the feminine vs masculine word as well.

• Masculine: un policier – a [male] police officer
• Feminine: une polici ère  – a [female] police officer
• Masculine: un boulanger – a [male] baker
• Feminine: une boulang ère  – a [female] baker

Here’s a list of some of the typical masculine and feminine word endings  for French nouns that describe people’s professions or other roles in society.

Gender-inclusive versions of gendered nouns

As we’ve seen for many French words, gender is implicit. So how do we just refer in general to a profession or other role without implying that we’re limiting our reference to just men or women?

Traditionally in the French language, the use of the masculine  has been understood to include all genders  when speaking generally of a role. As you may guess, however, this practice reeks of patriarchy and has increasingly come under scrutiny. Caveats are often added to texts to excuse this one-sidedness :

• Pour ne pas alourdir le texte, nous nous conformons à la règle qui permet d’utiliser le masculin avec la valeur de neutre.  – In order to not weigh down the text, we are following the rule which allows the use of the masculine in a neutral sense.
• L’utilisation du genre masculin a été adoptée afin de faciliter la lecture et n’a aucune intention discriminatoire.  – The use of the masculine gender has been adopted in order to facilitate reading and has no discriminatory intention.
• L’usage du masculin dans ce document a pour unique but d’alléger le texte.  – The sole goal of the use of the masculine in this document is to lighten the text.

Another practice is to exclusively use the feminine versions  within a text, and apply one of these same excuses stating that they’re intended to include both genders as well.

To really include both genders when writing, however, both masculine and feminine versions need to be explicitly mentioned . Yes, this weighs down the text to some degree, but it remains inclusive.

• Nous cherchons un moniteur  ou une monitrice  supplémentaire pour une classe de douze étudiants  et étudiantes . – We are looking for an additional instructor  for a class of twelve students .

Common abbreviations  are often employed in order to just write one word instead of doubling the words. These forms are created by adding the feminine ending to the masculine form, separated by a period (.)  or a middle dot (·) .

• Nous cherchons un · e moniteur · trice  supplémentaire pour une classe de douze étudiant · es . – We are looking for an additional instructor for a class of twelve students .
• Les enseignant · es  sont soit parisien · nes  soit  lyonnais · es . – The teachers  are either Parisians  or from Lyon .

Dual-gendered words for people’s roles

For some professions and other societal roles, the exact same noun  can have multiple genders. In contrast to the slight changes in spelling that we saw above with words like avocat vs avocate or ami vs amie, these nouns don’t change at all  between their masculine and feminine versions.

When using these nouns, only the rest of the sentence’s context can reveal whether the person we’re referring to is male or female . In the examples we show here, we just use the indefinite article   un  or une  to identify the word as masculine or feminine, which corresponds to the English article a  or an . Your English translations are usually gender-neutral anyway.

• un élève / une élève – a student
• un collègue / une collègue – a colleague
• un enfant / une enfant – a child
• un touriste / une touriste – a tourist

Animal words with a biological gender

For the most part, generic animal names in French have no relation to the actual gender of the animals themselves. However, just like in English, certain common animal words in French indeed refer to the gender of the individuals they describe . A comparable example in English is a horse , which can then be specified as either a stallion  or a mare . Such French gendered nouns are primarily for domesticated animals.

• un étalon / un jument – a stallion / a mare
• un coq / une poule – a rooster / a hen
• un cochon / une truie – a [male] pig / a sow
• un chien / une chienne – a [male] dog / a [female] dog

Animal words with arbitrary gender

For most animals in French , however, the word’s gender is unrelated to any biological gender  of the individual animal.

• Masculine: un crapaud – a toad
• Feminine: une grenouille – a frog
• Masculine: un serpent – a snake
• Feminine: une salamandre – a salamander

Most other nouns with arbitrary gender

So far in these sections we’ve looked primarily at words for people and animals whose French noun genders have some correlation to the apparent biological genders of what the words describe. For most nouns , however, there’s no such link !

• Masculine: un fauteuil – an armchair
• Feminine: une chaise – a chair
• Masculine: un tabouret – a stool
• Feminine: une banquette – a bench

Don’t worry, there are still some clues on how to tell if a French word is masculine or feminine. This brings us back to our section above on French gender rules  where we introduced some of the telltale word endings  for masculine or feminine French nouns.

Incidentally, the inanimate noun that jumps to mind with a specific gender in the English language is a boat , which is feminine . For the most part, boats in French are masculine  nouns!

• un bateau – a boat
• un bateau de croisière – a cruise ship
• un paquebot – an ocean liner
• un navire – a ship
• un voilier – a sailboat
• un grand voilier – a tall ship
• un quatre-mâts – a four-masted sailboat
• un porte-avions – an aircraft carrier
• Ce navire  est aujourd’hui un bateau-restaurant amarré dans le centre de Paris, mais il  a remonté la Seine jusqu’en 2003. – This ship  is now a restaurant boat moored in central Paris, but she  transported cargo up the Seine until 2003.

French nouns with different meanings when masculine vs feminine

Before we wrap up this post on gender rules in French, let’s look at another category of nouns where assigning a different gender  will give the same word a completely different meaning . Using the correct gender thus makes a huge difference in what you’re saying with these words, though context is also obviously a good clue as to which meaning is intended.

• Masculine: un livre – a book
• Feminine: une livre – a pound (a unit of weight or a currency)
• Masculine: un tour – a tour, a turn
• Feminine: une tour – a tower
• Masculine: un poste – a job, a position
• Feminine: une poste – a poste office
• Feminine proper noun: La Poste – the French postal system
• Masculine: un manche – a handle
• Feminine: une manche – a sleeve
• Feminine proper noun: la Manche – the English Channel

If you’re interested, there are even more of these dual-personality nouns in Spanish !

Conclusion: Genders in French

In this comprehensive post on noun genders in French , we covered all the angles of this fundamental aspect of the French language.

We started off with the basic concepts of French gender , with the most important being that it’s a grammatical construct  rather than anything related to biological genders: all French nouns are either masculine or feminine . The French word for it  translates directly as either he  or she .

So how to tell if a French word is masculine or feminine? We started by looking at all the clues within a sentence, with a heavy focus on the masculine and feminine articles  and then examining other instances of gender agreement  with other words in the sentence. We then saw a list of common French noun endings  that are typically found in masculine or feminine words.

In our last section we looked at nouns that have some link to an actual biological gender . These French nouns for people and animals  are arguably easier to associate with their correct grammatical gender, although we saw that there are plenty of exceptions  and ambiguous words that don’t fit the pattern. Many nouns for people also have two versions, so we looked in detail at the masculine and feminine word endings  as well as the ways to be more gender-inclusive  when using these words.

As with any aspect of language learning, it’s important to practice recognizing and using French noun gender  accurately, and to be patient with yourself as you learn! Though this can be a challenging element of learning French, it provides a unique insight into the inner workings of the language and its history and culture. With dedication and perseverance, you’ll gradually become a pro at correctly using noun genders in French !

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The Ultimate Guide To French Word Gender

If you're learning French , then you'll know that French word gender is one of the most dreaded features of the language and the stuff of nightmares for learners everywhere.

After all, how is it possible to remember whether each and every individual noun in the whole French language is masculine or feminine?

However, it’s nothing to be scared of, and once you get started, it’s not as difficult as you might imagine – so to give you some advice about the best ways to tackle it, here’s my guide to French word gender.

By the way, if you want to learn French fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is  French Uncovered  which teaches you through StoryLearning®.

With French Uncovered you’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn French naturally through story… not rules. It’s as fun as it is effective.

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What Is French Word Gender?

Most people probably have an idea about what gender means when talking about languages, but let’s start right at the beginning.

At the most basic level, grammatical gender is the division of nouns into classes. French has two genders, masculine and feminine, while German has three, masculine, feminine and neuter – and some languages have even more than this!

The important thing to remember, however, is that grammatical gender isn’t the same as “natural” gender. 

Most nouns with a natural feminine meaning are feminine and most with a natural masculine meaning are masculine – femme (woman) is feminine, and homme (man) is masculine, which makes sense. However, it doesn’t always work like this.

Many nouns have no natural gender, but they still have a grammatical gender, and this often seems entirely arbitrary. For example, table (table) is feminine, but bureau (desk or office) is masculine. Don’t ask why.

Furthermore, French word gender can sometimes seem quite illogical or counterintuitive – a great example of this is the word masculinité (masculinity), which is a feminine noun in French!

Why Does French Have Gender?

The short answer to why French has gender is because Latin had gender, and French is descended from Latin. 

However, that begs the question, why did Latin have gender?

The answer to this can be traced right back to a theoretical ancient language called Proto-Indo-European, the common ancestor of all the Romance languages, the Germanic languages, the Slavic languages, many of the languages of northern India such as Hindi and quite a few others.

But why did Proto-Indo-European have gender? Nobody really knows.

How Does Gender Affect French?

Academic questions like this may be fascinating, but more pertinent to someone learning French is how it affects the language.

The most obvious effect is that the gender of a noun determines which French article you use with it – whether you use le or la for “the” and un or une for “a”.

Furthermore, due to rules of agreement, grammatical gender also requires French pronouns and French adjectives to change so they “agree” with the gender of the noun they are being used with. We’ll look at this in a bit more detail later in the post.

Is Having Gender Useful ?

Some people might think this system is unnecessarily complicated and serves no purpose other than making French harder to learn.

However, sometimes having different genders can make a sentence clearer. For example, foi (faith) is feminine and foie (liver) is masculine – but the two nouns sound exactly the same.

But because they have different genders, we can easily distinguish between sentences like j’ai perdu ma foi and j’ai perdu mon foie .

When spoken, these sentences sound the same apart from the use of the masculine or feminine article – but they have quite different meanings.

The first version means “I’ve lost my faith”, which is reasonable and easy to understand – but the second means “I’ve lost my liver”, which would be altogether more disturbing.

This is just one example, but in any case, even if you’re not convinced, that’s too bad. 

French has gender, so if you want to speak French, you’re just going to have to get to grips with it. So now let’s have a look at how to determine the grammatical gender of nouns in French.

The Gender Of Nouns In French

First, the bad news.

In French, it’s usually impossible to guess the gender of a noun just by looking at it, which means you have to learn the gender of every noun individually.

However, there’s some good news too. There are some common endings that will help you guess the gender of a noun with more than a 50/50 chance of being correct.

But now for some more bad news – unfortunately, there are almost always exceptions that can catch you out, so you still have to remember them all to be sure.

Some Useful Endings To Remember

So which endings can help you guess a noun’s gender? Let’s have a look.

Nouns Ending In Consonants: Usually Masculine

Many nouns whose singular form ends in a consonant are masculine.

However, there are also many exceptions, often nouns ending in -n , -r , -s , -t and -x (i.e., nouns ending in these consonants are usually masculine, but many of the exceptions end in these letters).

This is not a hard and fast rule, but at least it will help you to guess if you are not sure.

• un document (a document)
• un calendrier (a calendar)
• le soleil (the sun)
• un scorpion (a scorpion)

Exceptions:

• une nuit (a night)
• la mer (the sea)

Nouns Ending In -on : Usually Masculine

Nouns ending in -on are usually masculine.

• un poisson (a fish)
• un cordon (a cord)
• une chanson (a song)

Nouns ending in -aison , -sion , -tion and -xion : usually feminine

Although nouns ending in -on are usually masculine, those ending in -aison , -sion , -tion and -xion are almost always feminine.

This is one of the more reliable rules to remember since there are very few exceptions.

• une décision (a decision)
• une connexion (a connection)
• un bastion (a bastion)

Nouns Ending In -é : Usually Masculine

A reasonable guide if in doubt, but there are plenty of exceptions, often in abstract nouns.

• un café (a coffee, a café) 
• un marché (a market)
• une clé (a key)
• la masculinité (masculinity)
• l’obscurité (darkness, obscurity)

Nouns Ending In -ai , -oi , -i And -ou : Usually Masculine

Another useful rule – but pay attention to exceptions.  

• un essai (an attempt)
• un niveau (a level)
• le roi (the king)
• un pari (a bet)
• un genou (a knee)
• une loi (a law)
• une paroi (a wall)

Nouns Ending In – eau : Usually Masculine

Usually true, but there are still exceptions.

• un bateau (a boat)
• un corbeau (a crow, raven)
• l’eau (water)
• la peau (skin)

Nouns Ending In -e : Usually Feminine

This ‘rule’ is very approximative since there are so many exceptions. However, it still gives you a better chance than 50% of guessing right if you don’t know the correct gender.

Beware of the many exceptions – the last one, squelette , is a word that most people would probably guess was feminine, for example.

• une place (a seat, a place, a parking space)
• la race (race, breed)
• un téléphone (a telephone)
• un portable (a mobile (telephone))
• le monde (the world)
• un kilomètre (a kilometre)
• un squelette (a skeleton)

Nouns Ending In -isme , -ède , -ège , -ème : Usually Masculine

Nouns ending in -isme are always masculine, and those ending in -ède , -ège , -ème are usually masculine.

• un remède (a remedy)
• le système (the system)
• un piège (a trap)
• la crème (cream)

Nouns Ending In -age : Usually Masculine

This rule is usually true, but some of the exceptions are common words, so it’s a good idea to remember them.

• un massage (a massage)
• un stage (an internship)
• un garage (a garage)
• une page (a page)
• une plage (a beach)
• une cage (a cage)
• une image (a picture, image)

Some Other Rules To Be Aware Of

Most nouns in French have an arbitrary grammatical gender, but there are a few other rules to note too.

Nouns That Can Be Masculine Or Feminine But Don’t Change

Some nouns, usually ones that refer to people, can be either masculine or feminine. However, the noun itself doesn’t change, only the article. 

• un/une adulte (an adult)
• un/une dentiste (a dentist)
• un/une enfant (a child)

Nouns With Masculine And Feminine Forms

Many nouns also exist that change depending on whether they refer to a male or a female.

The most common way this happens is to add an -e to the masculine form, which may or may not change the pronunciation.

• un ami/une amie (a friend (no pronunciation change))
• un avocat/une avocate (a lawyer (different pronunciation))

Masculine nouns ending in -ien , -on , -an , -in or -ain add -e or -ne , changing the pronunciation.

• a dog => a bitch
• a neighbour

Other nouns add -esse , a transformation that is sometimes mirrored in English.

• a prince => a princess 
• a host => a hostess

Nouns ending in -eur follow one of two patterns – they either change to -euse or -rice in the feminine form.

Irregular changes

Some nouns have feminine forms that don’t follow a regular pattern.

• a man => a woman
• a son => a daughter
• a boy => a girl

Nouns With Different Meanings Depending On Their Gender

A handful of nouns have both masculine and feminine forms, and the meaning changes depending on the gender.

• un livre (a book)
• une livre (a pound (the weight or the British currency))
• un merci (a thank you)
• la merci (mercy)

How Does Gender Affect Sentences In French?

So we’ve seen that French word gender affects the choice of article – whether you use le or la , un or une – but what else does it affect?

This is a big topic, but let’s have a brief look at some of the basics to give you an idea.

The gender of a noun can cause the pronoun or French possessive adjective used with it to change.

For example, the word for “my” in French has two singular forms, mon and ma – the first is used with masculine nouns and the second with feminine nouns, like this:

• mon père (my father)
• ma mère (my mother)

Gender also determines which personal pronoun you use. For example, if the person or thing doing the action is masculine, you use il (he), but if the person or thing is feminine, you use elle (she).

For plurals, for a group that is all-male, you use ils (they), but for a group that is all-female, you use elles (they).

For a mixed group of males and females, you use ils . This is even true if the group has ten females and only one male. Unfortunately, French grammar makes no allowances for sexual equality!

Adjectives also change to agree with nouns they describe, for example:

• Un bain chaud (a hot bath)
• Une douche chaude (a hot shower)

Obviously, there’s far more to it than just this, and the concept of gender in French is so fundamental to the way the language works that it’s practically impossible to say anything without it.

What’s The Best Way To Learn French Word Gender?

We’ve established that all French nouns have gender, that you can’t reliably guess the gender without learning it and that you can’t really say much in French without knowing the gender of what you’re talking about – so how should you go about learning it?

The best advice is always to learn the gender with any new noun you meet.

If you write it down, never write the word alone – always write it with an article. And when you say the word aloud, always say the article with it.

This way, your brain will remember the word and the article together, and eventually, it will just sound weird saying it with the wrong article – much as it would for a native speaker.

And here’s another tip: try imagining ‘reasons’ for why a noun has a particular gender.

For example, you might remember that voiture (car), is feminine because women are better drivers than men.

It doesn’t matter how silly the reason is – the sillier or funnier the better because that only makes it more memorable.

Practice Really Does Make Perfect

With French word gender, like much else in language learning, practice really does make perfect.

The more you practise speaking French and the more you hear French being spoken, you more you will instinctively remember the gender of each noun.

Then, before you know it, confusing the gender of a noun will seem as unnatural to you as it does to a native speaker. 

The best way to get the immersion you need to master French word gender is to follow the rules of StoryLearning® and read stories in French.

As you read books in French at your level, you'll quickly pick up the gender of the most important nouns. And you'll soon start using them with ease!

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• French »
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• Grammar »
• Level A1 »
• Nouns & Articles »

Identifying the gender of nouns by some specific word endings in French

Knowing the gender of French nouns is one of the hardest things for English students.   Fortunately, we have some tips for you! Note that they don't work 100% of the time (That would be too easy!), but it is as close you can get to a rule.  

Learn how to identify the gender of nouns in French

1- nouns ending with an -e  are mostly feminine.

ATTENTION:  -é, -ê , or -è are NOT considered as -e ,  but as a different letter, therefore don't necessarily follow that rule!

Now let's look at endings that don't match that first rule: you can easily remember them! 

2- However  -age, -ège   and -isme  endings tend to be MASCULINE

3- nouns that don't end in -e  are usually masculine, 4- however, these exceptions that don't end in -e  tend to be feminine, -tion, -sion, -ssion, abstract nouns in  -eur  .

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

• Genre masculin
• Genre féminin

Examples and resources

-isme (masculine)

-tion (feminine).

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Translation of voyage – English–French dictionary

(Translation of voyage from the GLOBAL English-French Dictionary © 2016 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Translation of voyage | PASSWORD English-French Dictionary

(Translation of voyage from the PASSWORD English-French Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Translations of voyage

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

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a computer program designed to have a conversation with a human being, usually over the internet

Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

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How do I tell whether to use 'le' or 'la'?

Nouns in French are divided into two categories. With nouns in the first category, the word for the is le and for nouns in the second category it is la . The two categories are generally called masculine and feminine . The names masculine and feminine are conventional and probably stem from the fact that some masculine nouns refer to male people or beings, and some feminine nouns to female people or beings. But in the vast majority of cases, there is no real relationship between a noun's meaning and its gender. Consider, for example, that bureau and office can have similar meanings, but the former is masculine and the latter feminine; or that the noun personne is feminine but can refer to both men and women.

When you very first start learning French, you'll probably learn whether a noun is masculine or feminine by learning it with the word le or la : le garçon , la fille etc. Initially, this is probably the most effective way of learning when to use le and when to use la .

In other words, the answer to our question to start with is "you've just got to remember!" .

Rules and patterns for deciding on the gender of a French noun

As your proficiency in the language grows, you'll probably reach a point where you stop learning words with the article le or la alongside. For example, if you're acquiring vocabulary through reading or watching a film, some of the time the article won't be present. And there'll inevitably be times when you can't quite remember the gender of a word and could do with some kind of "best guess". The following table gives some general patterns that will help you decide whether a word is masculine or feminine.

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“Les Voyageuses de lettres”: Mapping Women’s Travel Literature in French in the 1930s

Paper given at French Studies annual conference, Exeter University, 2-4 July 2012.

Related Papers

Women, Writing, and Travel in the Eighteenth Century

Katrina O'Loughlin

Book description The eighteenth century witnessed the publication of an unprecedented number of voyages and travels, genuine and fictional. Within a genre distinguished by its diversity, curiosity, and experimental impulses, Katrina O'Loughlin investigates not just how women in the eighteenth century experienced travel, but also how travel writing facilitated their participation in literary and political culture. She canvases a range of accounts by intrepid women, including Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Turkish Embassy Letters, Lady Craven's Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople, Eliza Justice's A Voyage to Russia, and Anna Maria Falconbridge's Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone. Moving from Ottoman courts to theatres of war, O'Loughlin shows how gender frames access to people and spaces outside Enlightenment and Romantic Britain, and how travel provides women with a powerful cultural form for re-imagining their place in the world. Reviewed in Early Modern Women 14:1 (Fall 2019), 229-31; Études Anglaises 72:2 (2019), 248-9; Studies in Travel Writing 22:4 (2018), 436-7; Times Literary Supplement (16 November 2018). Review Excerpts: 'Impressive in its geographical scope … this valuable contribution to studies in travel writing reanimates crucial voices in eighteenth-century literature and culture. Women, Writing, and Travel in the Eighteenth Century would interest scholars focused on alternative literary histories of subjectivity (as distinct from the novel), premodern travel writing, women’s writing, eighteenth-century colonial discourse, the emergence of a secular middle class, politics and British aristocratic identity, eighteenth-century Russia and the Levant, and more.' -- Laura Williamson Ambrose, *Early Modern Women* (2018) '[A]n important, stimulating addition to the field. O’Loughlin compiles six travelogues by women, loosely pairing them based on the geography of their travels: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Elizabeth Craven (Europe and Turkey), Jane Vigor and Eliza Justice (Russia), and Janet Schaw and Anna Maria Falconbridge (transatlantic travel).... Focusing on the concept of sociality, O’Loughlin deftly explores the ways each woman’s travelogue is shaped by her own culturally mediated understanding of identity, formed within the specific historic and cultural moment.' -- Elizabeth Zold, *Studies in Travel Writing* (2018) 'Katrina O’Loughlin montre bien, au-delà de l’intérêt ethnographique et documentaire des lettres et de leur élégance formelle, que la voyageuse, à travers la représentation de la culture ottomane, interroge l’identité culturelle anglaise (et aussi européenne), les modes de sa sociabilité, son rapport au savoir, dans un contrepoint lucide et conscient des enjeux de l’expérience de l’ailleurs, dimension qui a parfois été laissée un peu de côté par les spécialistes du récit de voyage.' - Études Anglaises (2019)

American Literature

Sidonie Smith

Eleonora Rohland

In France, a vast travel literature emerges throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, which is part of the European “politics of world exploration” (Despoix) that comes to map out multiple inter- and intracultural “contact zones” (Pratt). It also contributes considerably to the production of a particular world knowledge which comprises both traditional figures of comparing the ‘Old’ and the ‘New World’ (such as the 'Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes') as well as new scientific taxonomies and classifications belonging to the fields of geography, biology or botany. (co-taught together with Prof. Dr. Kirsten Kramer)

Julie Kalman

Ekaterina Ovcharova

The blend of peoples, mores and customs which occurred as a result of Euro-pean expansion—both military and cultural— to the East in the 19th and pre-ceding centuries was certain to affect the customs and everyday life of inhabi-tants of countries in the East. This is particularly true of those countries which attracted large numbers of tourists or became transient dwelling places for trav-elers to India and other Asian countries.

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

Elizabeth Zold

Studies in Travel Writing

Gillian Jein

Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Laura Williamson

Elmas Şahin

http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=53176

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Voyage in the oxford-hachette french dictionary, voyage in the pons dictionary, voyage examples from the pons dictionary (editorially verified).

• voyage OFAJ Glossary "Intégration et égalité des chances"

Monolingual examples (not verified by PONS Editors)

Translations for voyage in the french » english dictionary (go to english » french ), voyage [vwajaʒ] n m.

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See also jeunesse

Jeunesse [ʒœnɛs] n f, 1. jeunesse (période) :, 2. jeunesse (fait d'être jeune) :, 3. jeunesse (comme qualité) :, 4. jeunesse (les jeunes) :, 5. jeunesse (femme) :, chèque-voyage < pl chèques-voyage> [ʃɛkvwajaʒ] n m, voyager [vwajaʒe] vb intr, translations for voyage in the english » french dictionary (go to french » english ), 1. voyage (le fait de voyager) :, 2. voyage (trajet) :, 3. voyage inf (trip) :, 1. voyager (aller en voyage) :, 2. voyager comm :, 3. voyager (être transporté) :, voyage glossary « intégration et égalité des chances » courtesy of the french-german youth office, translations for voyage in the french » english dictionary.

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• Voyager conjugation table
• Voyager conjugation rules
• Voyager synonyms

Voyager french definition

Voyager conjugation in all forms, voyager conjugation in all tenses.

• Voyager : verbs with similar conjugation
• Voyager conjugation in indicative
• Voyager conjugation in present indicative
• Voyager conjugation in present perfect indicative
• Voyager conjugation in imperfect indicative
• Voyager conjugation in pluperfect indicative
• Voyager conjugation in simple past indicative
• Voyager conjugation in past perfect indicative
• Voyager conjugation in simple future indicative
• Voyager conjugation in future perfect indicative
• Voyager conjugation in subjunctive
• Voyager conjugation in present subjunctive
• Voyager conjugation in past subjunctive
• Voyager conjugation in imperfect subjunctive
• Voyager conjugation in pluperfect subjunctive
• Voyager conjugation in conditional
• Voyager conjugation in present conditional
• Voyager conjugation in past conditional
• Voyager conjugation in imperative
• Voyager conjugation in present imperative
• Voyager conjugation in past imperative
• Infinitive of french verb Voyager
• Present infinitive of french verb Voyager
• Past infinitive of french verb Voyager
• Participle of french verb voyager
• Present participle of french verb voyager
• Past participle of french verb voyager
• Gerundive of french verb voyager
• Present gerundive of french verb voyager
• Past gerundive of french verb voyager

Common french verbs

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• French Tenses
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French Auxiliaries Verbs

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• Most Common French Verbs
• Avoir conjugation
• Être conjugation
• Aimer conjugation
• Manger conjugation
• Finir conjugation
• Partir conjugation
• Aller conjugation
• Faire conjugation
• Dire conjugation
• Lire conjugation
• Voir conjugation
• Venir conjugation
• Pouvoir conjugation
• Prendre conjugation
• Vouloir conjugation
• Devoir conjugation
• Savoir conjugation
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• Present Indicative
• Imperfect Indicative
• Simple Past Indicative
• Simple Future Indicative
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• French Conjugation
• Voyager conjugation

Conjugation of french verb voyager in female form

Present perfect, simple past, past perfect, simple future, future perfect, subjunctive, conditional, voyager french verb, conjugation rules, reflexive form:, negative form:, interrogative form:.

• Voyager french verb conjugation rules

Voyager french synonyms

• Voyager similar verbs conjugation

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Active voice conjugation

Similar verbs conjugation.

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List of verbs used as patterns in french conjugation:

Most common first group verbs

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Conjugate the French Verb "Voyager"

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• Resources For Teachers

In French, the verb  voyager  means "to travel." This is easy to remember if you associate traveling with a voyage. When you want to say things such as "I traveled" or "we are traveling" in French, the verb needs to be conjugated . A short lesson will introduce you to the most basic conjugations of  voyager .

The Basic Conjugations of  Voyager

Some French verb conjugations are easier than others and voyager falls in the middle. It follows the rules of all verbs that end in - ger and is classified as a spelling change verb .

As you study these conjugations, you'll notice that the  e  after the  g  is retained in many places where it would be dropped in others, such as the regular - er  verbs . This is because the  e  is vital to retaining the soft  g  sound when the infinitive ending begins with an  a  or  o . Without that  e , the  g  would sound like it does in the word gold and that is not a proper pronunciation.

Other than that small change in some of the forms, you'll find that conjugating  voyager  is rather standard. Begin by committing the basic present, future, and imperfect past tenses to memory as these will be the most useful forms you'll need.

Using the chart, pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense for your subject. For instance, "I am traveling" is  je voyage  and "we will travel" is  nous voyagerons .

The Present Participle of Voyager

Once again, the  e  remains attached to the verb stem when forming voyager 's present participle . The ending - ant  is added to create the word  voyageant.

Voyager  in the Compound Past Tense

You also have the option of using the French compound past tense, known as the  passé composé . It can be easier than memorizing all those imperfect forms, though you will need the  auxiliary verb   avoir  and the  past participle   voyagé .

For this construction, you only need to conjugate  avoir  in the present tense to fit the subject pronoun. The past participle remains the same no matter the subject and implies that the action happened in the past. For example, "I traveled" is  j'ai voyagé  and "we traveled" is nous avons voyagé .

More Simple Conjugations of Voyager

While the conjugations above should be every French student's first priority, there are a few more simple conjugations you might need as well. For example, when you want to imply that the action of traveling is uncertain, use the subjunctive . If, however, someone's travels are dependent on something else, you'll use the conditional .

There may also be times when you encounter the passé simple  or the imperfect subjunctive . These are most often found in more formal French but are good to know.

Should you find yourself wanting to use  voyager  in direct commands or short requests,  the imperative  is useful. This is also easier because there's no need to include the subject pronoun: simplify  tu voyage  to  voyage .

• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Nager" (to Swim)
• Simple Conjugations of "Partager" (to Share)
• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Promener" (to Walk)
• How to Conjugate "Ranger" (to Arrange)
• How to Conjugate "Protéger" (to Protect) in French
• How to Conjugate "Bouger" (to Move)
• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Nettoyer"
• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Rester" (to Stay)
• How to Conjugate "Respecter" in French
• Learn How "Déménager" Can Help You "Move House" in French
• The Conjugations of "Pluerer" (to Cry) in French
• How to Conjugate "Traverser" (to Cross) in French
• How to Conjugate "Influencer" (to Influence) in French
• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Payer" (to Pay)
• How to Conjugate "Obéir" (to Obey) in French
• How to Conjugate the French Verb "Réfléchir" (to Reflect)

English translation of 'le voyage'

Browse Collins French collocations voyage

Examples of 'voyage' in a sentence voyage

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• vouvoyer qn
• vouvoyer quelqu’un
• voyage à vélo
• voyage d’affaires
• voyage d’agrément
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• Bon voyage!
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Melinda French Gates to Resign From Gates Foundation

The co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will chart her own course as a philanthropist focused on women’s rights and gender equality.

By Anupreeta Das and Santul Nerkar

Melinda French Gates is leaving the behemoth foundation she and her former husband, Bill Gates, founded nearly a quarter-century ago to devote herself fully to her work on behalf of women and girls, which has been the focus of much of her recent philanthropy.

Her move, announced on Monday, marks the end of an era for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — henceforth known as the Gates Foundation — which she and her former husband founded in 2000 and transformed into a juggernaut that shook up the world of philanthropy and reshaped the fields of global public health and development.

“After careful thought and reflection, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,” Ms. French Gates, 59, said in a post on X. She added that the foundation was “in strong shape,” and that it was the right time for her to move “into the next chapter of my philanthropy.” Her last day will be June 7.

Ms. French Gates will get $12.5 billion in resources to direct toward her philanthropic work. In a statement, she said she would use the money she was leaving with to “commit to my work on behalf of women and families.”

Already one of the world’s most influential female philanthropists, Ms. French Gates has long argued that the uplift of women benefits all of society. Her pivot to women’s rights and gender equality is likely to have a meaningful impact on the world of giving.

“It’s a milestone in the evolution of arguably the most important foundation of our time,” said Amir Pasic, the dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Mr. Pasic noted that Ms. French Gates’s potential contributions to women’s issues, from the $12.5 billion she is taking with her, could be influential. According to the school’s index , contributions to women’s and girls’ organizations in 2020 represented just 1.8 percent of all giving in the country.

So far, the main vehicle for Ms. French Gates’s work has been Pivotal Ventures, a firm she founded in 2015. Pivotal is not a foundation; rather, it is a limited liability company, a type of entity that can make grants to nonprofits as well as for-profit investments and engage in advocacy work. With dozens of employees, the firm, in Kirkland, Wash., targets issues such as paid family and medical leave and increasing female representation in politics, and invests in funds led by women.

In 2021, Pivotal was among the firms that called on the Biden administration to appoint a “caregiving czar.” Ms. French Gates has also worked with Michelle Obama, the former first lady, and Mackenzie Scott, who is the ex-wife of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, and is also a philanthropist.

So far, Pivotal has made a commitment of $1 billion toward its causes; the new funds are likely to give it far more heft.

On X, Mr. Gates said that he was “sorry to see Melinda leave,” but that she would “have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.” He said that Ms. French Gates was “instrumental” in helping shape the foundation’s vision, and that he remained “fully committed” to its work.

Mr. Gates, who is the world’s seventh-richest man and has an estimated net worth of $130 billion, according to Forbes , will become the sole chair of the Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman, the foundation’s chief executive, said in a statement released Monday.

Ms. French Gates has “new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the U.S. and around the world.” Mr. Suzman said. He added that she would be dedicating her time to altering the trajectory of “women’s rights rolled back in the U.S. and around the world” over the past few years.

When the foundation got its start, Ms. French Gates played more of a behind-the-scenes role, although she was engaged from the beginning. As her children grew older, she started spending more time at the foundation’s offices, staking a claim for herself. She became its voice on family planning, maternal care and other development-related issues that specifically affected women.

Ms. French Gates’s departure is the latest step in the evolution of the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private foundation. From public health and development to agriculture and education, the foundation is a highly influential player, giving away billions of dollars annually.

Its future direction was thrown into doubt momentarily when Mr. and Ms. French Gates announced their plans to divorce in May 2021, after 27 years of marriage. At the time, the foundation said that she would continue working with Mr. Gates as a co-chair, and that if either of them decided that they couldn’t work together, Ms. French Gates would step down in May 2023 or later.

Ms. French Gates considered her working relationship with her ex-husband to be challenging, according to a person with knowledge of her thinking. After her divorce, Ms. French Gates said publicly that she and Mr. Gates maintained a friendly relationship, but that they weren’t friends.

In “The Moment of Lift,” her first book, published in 2019, Ms. French Gates wrote about how difficult it was at times to stand out alongside her husband. “I’ve been trying to find my voice as I’ve been speaking next to Bill,” she wrote, “and that can make it hard to be heard.”

After the couple’s 2021 divorce, the foundation introduced several changes as it sought to introduce stronger corporate governance mechanisms and professionalize its operations. Despite the foundation’s size — an endowment of $75 billion as of 2023, around 2,000 employees and roughly a dozen offices around the globe — it had long remained a tightly controlled entity where Ms. French Gates and Mr. Gates, the two co-chairs and co-trustees, oversaw much of the decision making, according to former employees and those who have worked with the foundation.

In 2021, soon after the divorce, Warren E. Buffett, who had joined the foundation as its third trustee after announcing in 2006 that he would give to it a majority of his fortune, stepped down from his role, saying that his participation was not needed, but that he would continue to make contributions. The next year, the foundation added six trustees to its board.

Anupreeta Das is the finance editor of The New York Times, overseeing broad coverage of Wall Street, including banking, investing, markets and consumer finance. She was previously the deputy business editor of The Wall Street Journal. More about Anupreeta Das

Santul Nerkar is a reporter covering business and sports. More about Santul Nerkar

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As Melinda French Gates leaves the Gates Foundation, many hope she’ll double down on gender equity

FILE - Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda French Gates smiles as she leaves the Elysee Palace, June 23, 2023, in Paris. Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit shone of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world that she helped her ex-husband Bill Gates found more than 20 years ago. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE - Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, gestures during the unveiling of the logo and website of Alliance for Global Good – Gender Equity and Equality, Feb. 28, 2024, in New Delhi. Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit shone of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world that she helped her ex-husband Bill Gates found more than 20 years ago. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Melinda French Gates is already one of the biggest philanthropic supporters of gender equity in the United States and is now poised to put another $12.5 billion toward intractable problems like closing the gender pay gap and increasing women’s political participation, her grantees hope.

The additional funds come as French Gates announced Monday that she was stepping down as co-chair of the Gates Foundation , which she founded together with her ex-husband Bill Gates more than 20 years ago. Gates will provide the $12.5 billion as part of an agreement made when they divorced in 2021.

Organizations like Paid Leave For All, founded in 2019 to coordinate advocacy around passing federal paid leave legislation , said French Gates’ steady support over years as well as her advocacy to highlight the issue, counterbalance other funders who have been slow to back fights like theirs that challenge sexism in compensation and benefits.

“If you’re only willing to invest in a thing that you think is surely going to win in the short term, then you’re not making much of an impact,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, founding director of Paid Leave For All.

While no one knows exactly what French Gates’ future plans are, Huckelbridge’s organization and other grantees anticipate she will use the funds as part of her focused advocacy and philanthropic support for increasing the power and influence of women.

“This amount of money to be moved into a space, even with just a standard 5% draw, is going to be so significant,” said Teresa Younger, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, which supports the women’s movement and the movement for gender equality in the U.S. The Ms. Foundation’s research has documented the disproportionately small amount of philanthropic dollars that support nonprofits led by women of color or that support Black women and girls , especially.

In her post on Monday announcing her resignation, French Gates said she planned to commit the funds to her work on behalf of women and families, adding, “I’ll be sharing more about what that will look like in the near future.”

French Gates works through her organization, Pivotal Ventures, which is a limited liability company that also manages investments in for profit ventures. As a result, there is little public information about its grantmaking or the assets it manages. A spokesperson for Pivotal Ventures pointed to French Gates’ statement on Monday when asked for comment about her future philanthropic plans.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will change its name to the Gates Foundation, is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world. As of December 2023, its endowment was $75.2 billion, thanks to donations from Gates and the billionaire investor Warren Buffett. While it works across many issues, global health remains its largest area of work, and most of its funding is meant to address issues internationally rather than in the U.S.

Pivotal Ventures has targeted a number of avenues to increasing women’s economic and political participation and power, like closing the wage gap, compensating care work often done by women, and encouraging women to run for political office.

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and state governments from Pivotal Ventures.

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, began working with French Gates at least as far back as 2018, she said.

“I have to say, they were one of the most considerate funders, if I can put it that way, in that they provided funding for general support and asked only that we could make ourselves available to give guidance and advice early on,” Walsh said. She also credited French Gates with having a capacity for giving and focus on gender equity that no other single funder or foundation offers.

Walsh declined to say how much Pivotal Ventures has granted to her organization, but said the funding supports their research into multiple areas, including the intersection of race and gender in politics and ways female political donors can use their influence and voice to greater effect. Her center is also able to fund the research of faculty and graduate students at other institutions, which helps communicate to those schools that their research is valued, she said.

“I remember thinking that after 40-plus years of working in this space, it was the thing that in many ways I never thought would happen, which is that there would be somebody who would prioritize gender and gender equity, who had the capacity to make investments that could be transformational,” Walsh said.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy .

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French producers sign #metoo agreement.

France's producer associations and unions unanimously approved new measures aimed at preventing gender-based and sexual violence and harassment.

By Scott Roxborough

Scott Roxborough

Europe Bureau Chief

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In another sign that the #MeToo movement is transforming the birthplace of cinema, France’s film producers and actors unions on Friday unanimously approved new measures aimed at preventing gender-based and sexual violence and harassment within the industry.

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The new measures follow an announcement by the French film board, the CNC, that it will make similar requirements a condition for receiving government subsidies. Given the importance of CNC funding for most French movies, this ensures these #MeToo measures will become standard practice across the French industry. The CNC will launch harassment training programs this summer.

But the CNC is also under fire on the issue. Its president, Dominique Boutonnat, will face trial in June on sexual assault allegations, which he denies. A petition calling for his immediate dismissal has been signed by more than 500 members of the French industry and demonstrators held a protest outside CNC headquarters in Paris on May 13 demanding Boutonnat be suspended until the conclusion of his criminal trial.

The CNC has defended its decision to stand by Boutonnat but its deputy general director, Olivier Henrard, had acknowledged the trial adds “an element of complexity” for the film board as it rolls out its new anti-abuse measures.

Initially, there was widespread resistance to #MeToo in France, but the movement has caught fire in recent months thanks to high-profile allegations against prominent French stars, including Gérard Depardieu, who will stand trial in October on charges of sexual assault brought by two women who claim he assaulted them on set of the film The Green Shutters in 2021. (Depardieu denies all charges.)

Speaking on Friday in Cannes in a “Women In Motion” talk hosted by luxury group Kering, Godrèche said she supported the new initiatives, but suggested the French film industry could have got here a lot sooner.

“It’s not as if the labor laws [against harassment] don’t exist, they do, they just have never been applied [in the film industry],” she said, adding that producers and filmmakers have used the argument that they are motivated by “passion” for their art “to take advantage.”

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