The French language has two genders of nouns: masculine and feminine. There is no neuter gender, unlike some languages that also belong to the Germanic-Romance group, for example German, and the gender of a French noun does not always coincide with the gender of a noun in Russian:
The feminine gender of a French noun is expressed in several ways.
Firstly, the simplest way is French a noun is accompanied by an article expressing its grammatical categories and one of them is gender.
In the singular the definite article:
masculine: (le-) le livre;
feminine: (la-) la balle.
In the singular the indefinite article:
masculine: (un-) un livre;
feminine: (une-) une pomme.
partial article:
masculine: (du-) du pain;
feminine: (de la-) de la viande.
Thus, with the help of one article we can determine what gender a noun belongs to, and if the noun ends in - e in the masculine gender, we look at the article:
un élève - une élève;
Un secretaire une secretaire.
Secondly, the most common form of forming the feminine gender of a French noun occurs by adding the masculine ending –e to the noun.
Note that adding -e to a noun that ends in a vowel does not change the pronunciation of the word:
un ami – une amie.
But when a noun ends in a consonant, adding -e makes the final consonant unpronounceable:
un étudiant – une étudiante.
That is, when forming the feminine gender of a noun, some changes in pronunciation may occur.
In the case of nouns ending in -in, -ain, and the incredibly large number of French nouns ending in –an, the final nasal sound disappears altogether:
un voisin – une voisine;
un Roumain – une Roumain;
un partisan - une partisan.
French nouns ending in -er, -ier in the masculine gender have the form ending in –ère, -ière in the feminine gender:
un étranger – une étrangère;
un ouvrier - une ouvrière.
If the ending –e is added, it is likely that the final consonant of the masculine noun may change. For example, f goes to v and x goes to s[z]:
un sportif - une sportive;
un époux - une épouse.
The consonant is doubled in nouns ending in -ien, -en, -on, as well as in the noun paysan:
un musicien - une musicienne;
un Européen - une Européenne;
un patron - une patronne;
un paysan - une paysanne.
Thirdly, nouns ending in –teur change this suffix in the feminine gender to –trice, that is, we are talking about a special feminine suffix:
un acteur - une actrice;
un dessinateur - une dessinatrice;
un lecteur – une lectrice;
le directeur – la directrice.
The suffix –eur of a masculine noun changes in the feminine to –euse:
un voyageur - un voyageuse.
Some nouns take the feminine suffix –esse, for example:
un maître – une maîtrresse.
Fourthly, using special words:
un home – une femme;
un frère – une soeur.
Fifthly, a number of words have only a masculine form. This especially applies to names of professions. For example, only in the masculine gender are the following used: French nouns: un témoin; un defenseur; un amateur; un possesseur.
To form the feminine form in such cases, for clarification it is necessary to use the word femme before the name of the profession:
C'est une femme médecin.
In difficult situations, to clarify the gender of the noun, you should look in the dictionary.
As in Russian, in French noun names an object or phenomenon.
Types of nouns
There are several types of nouns, namely:
1. Common nouns(noms communs) and own(noms propres). All proper names are written with a capital letter: la femme - Paris.
2.Specific(noms concrets), and abstract(noms abstraits): le livre – la liberté.
3. Animated(noms animés), i.e. naming people and inanimate(noms inanimés), denoting objects: l’homme – la maison.
4. Countable(noms nombrables), i.e. those that can be counted and that are capable of forming plural. AND uncountable(noms non nombrables), which cannot be counted, which means they cannot be used in the plural. For example: la chaise - la viande.
5. Individual(noms individuels) - they denote one object and collective(noms collectifs), which denote many objects: le soldat – l’armée.
Gender of nouns
There are only two genders in French: male(masculin) and female(féminin), but the gender of French nouns very often does not coincide with the gender of their Russian counterparts. Let's consider a number of rules by which you can understand the gender of a noun.
Firstly, the gender of a noun is indicated by articles: definite(un, une) and uncertain(le, la) as well as the following suffixes:
| masculine suffixes | feminine suffixes |
|---|---|
| - age (le fromage, l’ouvrage). Exceptions: la cage, la page, la plage, la rage, la nage, l’image; - al, ail (le canal, le travail); - ament, ement (le medicine, le département); - ard (le cafard, l’épinard); - as, at (le plat, le bras); - eau (le bureau, le chapeau). Exception: la peau; - eil, euil (le soleil, le fauteuil); - et (le brevet, le cabaret); - gramme (le program). Exception: une epigramme; - er, ier (le boucher, le clavier); - in, is (le matin, le permis); - isme (l’optimisme); - oir (le soir); - on (le cordon, le fourgon). Exceptions: La leçon, la façon. |
- ade (la balade); - aille, eille (la volaille, l'oreille); - aison (la maison); - ance, ence (l’abondance, la séquence). Exception: le silence; - ée (la journée). Exceptions: le musée, le lycée; - erie (la charcuterie, la boucherie); - esse, ette (la tendresse, la galette). Exception: le squelette; - eur (la couleur, la peur). Exceptions: le bonheur, le malheur, le labeur, l’honneur; - ie (la maladie). Exception: l'incendie; - ise (la cerise, la bêtise); - tude (l’attitude); - tion, sion, xion (la opération, la passion, la connexion); - té, ité (la liberté); - ure (la signature). |
To nouns male also include:
1. names of some professions (l’acteur);
2. days of the week (le samedi);
3. names of months (le le juin);
4. seasons (l’hiver);
5. names of languages (le français);
6. names of trees (le pin);
7. names of metals (le fer). Exception: la fonte - cast iron;
8. names of parts of speech (le nom).
To nouns female can be attributed:
1. names of sciences: la médecine, la botanique. Exceptions: le droit;
2. names of diseases: la peste, la grippe. Exceptions: le rhume, le diabète, le choléra, le croup;
3. names of fruits: une pêche, une pomme. Exceptions: un citron, un apricot.
Some nouns can change from one gender to another, for example: un acteur – une actrice, or not have a feminine form at all.
Most nouns form the feminine form by adding "e": un ami - une amie (friend - girlfriend). Masculine nouns that already end in "e", in the feminine gender they do not change. Only the article changes: un pianiste - une pianiste (pianist - pianist).
When adding "e" for masculine nouns ending with a nasal vowel, the nasal vowel disappears: un Américain – une Américaine (American - American).
When adding "e" to masculine nouns ending in -en, -ien, -on double "n" in the feminine gender: le Parisien - la Parisienne (Parisian - Parisian).
Nouns ending in a masculine gender "er" change it to "ère":
l’ouvrier - l’ouvrière (worker - worker), and the ending "eur" changes to "euse": un nageur - une nageuse (swimmer - female swimmer).
If a masculine noun ends in "f" or "p", in the feminine it changes to "ve": un veuf – une veuve (widower - widow). Endings also change "x", "el" And "eau".
So, for clarity, here are the changes to the suffixes in the table:
Some nouns indicate gender in different words, for example:
un homme - une femme(man Woman);
un père - une mere(father mother);
un frère- une sour(brother - sister), etc.
There is also a group of nouns that forms a special feminine form:
un copain - une copine(buddy - friend)
un neveu - une niece(nephew niece)
un roi - une reine(king - queen)
un favori - une favorite(favorite - favourite)
un hero - une heroine(hero - heroine)
Some nouns are used only in the plural: les environs- surroundings, les tenebres- twilight, etc.
Despite the fact that all these rules seem voluminous, practice will help you organize the acquired knowledge. Get started now!
Lesson assignments
Exercise 1. Form feminine nouns.
1. un voisin 2. le sportif 3. un loup 4. un danseur 5. Gabriel 6. un étranger 7. un directeur 8. un homme 9. un Africain 10. un malade
Exercise 2. Determine the gender of the noun.
1. travail 2. chatte 3. étudiant 4. boulangère 5. lycéenne 6. permission 7. comparaison 8. bureau 9. lectrice 10. lionne
Answer 1.
1. un voisine 2. la sportive 3. une louve 4. une danseuse 5. Gabrielle 6. une étrangère 7. une directrice 8. une femme 9. un Africaine 10. une malade
Answer 2.
1. male 2. female 3. male 4. female 5. female 6. female 7. female 8. male 9. female 10. female
When learning French, students may have difficulty determining the gender of a noun. The fact is that in French nouns have two genders: masculine and feminine. Consequently, many words have a gender different from the Russian language, because, as we know, Russian has 3 genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). The problem of gender distribution in French arises. For example, the word “table” is feminine in French, but masculine in Russian. What to do in this situation? How to determine what gender a particular noun has in French? What is the best way to remember the gender of nouns? Let's try to understand these issues.
In fact, there is a way out: you need to master French suffixes, thanks to which you can determine what gender a French noun has. If you memorize French suffixes, then you will not need to memorize the gender of all nouns that you encounter in the process of learning the language. When you see a word, you can determine what gender it is.
So, masculine suffixes in French:
— age(le fromage, l'ouvrage). Exceptions: la cage, la page, la plage, la rage, la nage, l’image;
—ail(le travail, le corail);
— al(le canal, le végétal);
—ament(le medicine, le testament);
—ard(le cafard, l'épinard);
—as(l'atlas, le bras);
- at(le plat, le syndicat);
— eau(le bureau, le chapeau). Exception: la peau;
— eil(le vermeil, le soleil);
— ement(le bâtiment, le département);
— et(le brevet, le cabaret);
—euil(le fauteuil, le deuil);
— gramme(le kilogramme, le program). Exception: une epigramme;
— ier(le clavier, le fermier);
—er(le boucher);
— in(le matin, le boudin);
— is(le permis, le soucis);
— isme(l'optimisme, l'humanisme);
— oir(le miroir, le couloir);
— on(le cordon, le fourgon). Exceptions: la leçon, la façon;
Also, in French, the following nouns are masculine:
1. days of the week (le jeudi, le samedi);
2. names of the months (le février, le juin);
3. seasons (l’hiver, le printemps);
4. names of languages (le français, le russe);
5. names of trees (le pin, le frêne);
6. names of metals (le fer, le cuivre). Exception: la fonte - cast iron;
7. names of parts of speech and grammatical categories (le nom, le genre). Exceptions: la conjonction, la préposition, l’interjection, la personne, la voix;
8. names of some professions (un écrivain, un médecin, un architecte, un chauffeur, un maire, un auteur, un professeur, un témoin, un chef d’orchestre).
At first glance, it seems that there are a lot of suffixes and rules. But, if you make a little effort, then determining the gender of nouns in French will no longer be a problem for you. And in the next article you will be able to familiarize yourself with the features of feminine suffixes.
The generic division of words comes from Latin. There were three genders - male, female and neuter, as in Russian. Over time, the Romance languages lost the neuter gender, and only boys and girls remained. Of these, French, unfortunately, has the most confusing system for determining gender (its Latin half-brothers - Italian and Spanish - have succeeded a little more in this direction: at least there are a sufficient number of words with endings -o and -a, that corresponds to masculine and feminine genders, although exceptions and unclear cases also abound!). But despite the fact that, unfortunately, there is no universal, intuitive principle in the language, in order to alleviate our plight as a foreigner, let’s first try to write down in the table the suffix endings that can only be found in words of one kind or another. Let's say right away that some morphemes (say, -ment) guarantee gender in 100% of cases, some (like -ée or -eur) give us a hint about gender in most words frequently used in speech (well, there are rare exceptions learn).
Here, both nouns and adjectives are considered interspersed. This is done deliberately, since, firstly, in the French language one can easily transform into another (italien - Italian and Italian), and secondly, changes in the formation of feminine adjectives occur according to general grammatical-phonetic principles.
|
Masculine |
|
| -age |
le vitrage (glazing)(except plage, image, cage, page (page) and others, where -age part of the root) |
| -ard | le tard (late), le vieillard (old man) |
| -aire |
le salaire (salary), un anniversaire (anniversary) + un air (air), un éclair (lightning, sparkle). Note: the adjective nécessaire (necessary) has one form for fém./masc. (already with -e at the end) and the adjective clair/claire (light, clear) - two. |
| -eau | le manteau (coat), le gâteau (pie), BUT: eau (water) l.r., peau (skin) l.r. |
| -ème |
(words of Greek origin) le problème (problem), le poème (poem), le thème (topic), le système (system) |
| -gramme |
(the Greeks tried again) le télé gramme (telegram), le diagramme (diagram). BUT une é pigramme (epigram) w.r. |
| -isme | le socialisme (socialism), le tourisme (tourism) |
| -ment | le gouvernement (government) |
| -ot | le grelot (bell) |
| -on | le chaperon (hat, hood) |
|
Feminine |
|
| -ade | la façade (front side), la promenade (promenade) |
| -aie | la raie (between) |
| -aison | la comparaison (comparison), la raison (reason, argument) |
| -ance |
la connaissance (knowledge, cognition) |
| -esse | la vitesse (speed) |
| -ine | la marine ( navy) |
| -ison | la guérison (recovery) |
| -itude | l’attitude (attitude; pose in ballet) |
| -oison | la cloison (partition), BUT poison (poison) - m.r. |
| -ose | l’hypnose (hypnosis), la chose (thing) |
| -sion | la commission (commission) |
| -tion | natation (swimming), révolution (revolution) |
| -ure | coiffure (hairstyle) confiture (jam) |
To the masculine in French include names of the days of the week(le lundi), months(le mars) and seasons(le printemps). In parallel, we note that with spring they say au printemps, and with the rest - en été, en automne, en hiver).
Usually, To masculine relate tree names- le sapin (spruce), le bouleau (birch), le tilleul (linden). Likewise names of metals- le fer (iron), le cuivre (copper), l’acier (steel), l’argent (silver, money). Exception: la fonte (cast iron). Also classified as masculine all names of parts of speech: un nom (noun), un adjectif (adjective), un verbe (verb). And here To feminine relate names of sciences la botanique (botany), la médecine (medicine), exception: le droit (law)
It should be especially noted that in the French language there is a series of abstract nouns with the suffix -eur, which relate to feminine- la douleur (pain), la chaleur (heat), la pâleur (pallor) etc.
A separate class consists of masculine words with the ending -il, which is read as: un fil (fiber, thread), un cil (eyelash, eyelash), un péril (danger), le brésil (logwood tree; Brazil), le grésil (hail ), un nombril (navel, in the last two words the final -l may or may not be readable) or not readable at all: un fusil (gun), un sourcil (eyebrow), le persil (parsley; note that faire son persil has a slang meaning - prostitute)
Now let’s look at the masculine-feminine pair endings that are similar in shape. At a minimum, they will allow us to understand gender in writing.
Table of pairs of endings that give masculine and feminine genders, respectively.
| male | female | ||
| -ail | le travail (work) | -aille | la trouvaille (find) |
| -oux | le roux (red-haired), le jaloux (jealous) | -ouse | la jalouse (jealous, envious) |
| -al | le journal (newspaper) | -ale | la morale (morality), BUT - le scandale(scandal) m.r. |
| -é | le fiancé (groom), as well as a number of exceptions: le lycée (lyceum), le musée (museum), le trophée (trophy) - m.r. | -ee | la soirée (party), as well as words starting with -té: une université (university) and the word la dictée |
| -eil | le soleil (sun) | -eille | la pareille (equal, in relation to a woman) |
| -el | l’actuel (modern era; actual) | -elle | la poubelle (urn) |
| -en | l'italien (Italian) | -enne | l'italienne (Italian) |
| -er | l'étranger (foreigner) | -ère | l'étrangère (foreigner) |
| -et | le cabaret (zucchini, cabaret) | -ette | la trompette (trumpet) |
| -eur | le chanteur (singer) | -euse | la vendeuse (saleswoman) |
| -i | le mari (husband) | -ie | la pâtisserie (cake; pastry shop) |
| -il | special use (see note) | -ille | la fille (daughter) |
| -is | le paradis (paradise) | -ise | la bêtise (stupidity) |
| -ier | le premier (first) | -ière | la première (first) |
|
-oir (-oire) |
le soir (evening), le conservatoire (conservative) | -oire | (except for -toire, which are m.p.) la poire (pear) |
| -on | le mignon (darling) | -onne | la mignonne (cute) |
| -teur | le directeur (director) | -trice | l'actrice (actress) |
| -u | un inconnu (stranger) | -ue | la rue (street) |
§ 2. A noun is an independent part of speech that has a general meaning of objectivity.
Nouns are used to name living beings, objects, phenomena, actions, qualities, abstract concepts:
un enfant, un chien, une table, la pluie, la marche, la beauté, la patience.
Based on their meaning and grammatical features, nouns are distinguished:
1 . Common nouns (noms communs) une fillette, un écrivain, une ville, un pays, un journal and proper nouns (noms propres) Marie, Balzac, Paris, la France, lHumanité, which are written with a capital letter.
2. Concrete (noms concrets) un homme, une maison, un cheval, and abstract (noms abstraits) la joie, la liberté, la musique.
3. Animated (noms animés) un garçon, un étudiant, un poisson and inanimate (noms inanimés) un crayon, une porte, une tasse.
4 . Countable (noms nombrables), which can be counted and can form many objects: le livre les livres; une femme des femmes and uncountables (noms non nombrables), which cannot be counted and cannot form sets (usually these are the names of substances and abstract concepts) le lait, la viande, le courage, la joie.
5 . Individual (noms individuels), which in the singular denote one object une vache, une feuille and collective (noms collectifs), which in the singular denote many objects un troupeau, le feuillage.
Based on their form, they distinguish simple nouns (noms simples), formed from one word
un manteau, un avion, des pommes
and complex (noms composés), formed by combining several words, the spelling of which can be combined or separate
un portemanteau, un porte-avions, des pommes de terre.
§ 3. Like Russian, French nouns have gender and number, but they are not declined. (Cf.: student un étudiant; student’s notebook le cahier dun étudiant; I address the student je madresse à un étudiant). In addition, French nouns have the concept of definiteness/indeterminacy, which is not the case in Russian.
Gender of nouns (Le genre des noms)
§ 4 . Unlike the Russian language, the French language has only two genders: masculine (masculin) and feminine (féminin).
The gender of Russian and French nouns does not always match:
knife un couteau
fork une fourchette
table une table
wall un mur
§ 5 . For animate nouns denoting people and some animals, mainly domestic ones, gender is motivated and differs depending on gender:
un homme une femme;
un fils une fille;
un acteur une actrice;
un coq une poule;
un chat une chatte.
Such nouns can be used in both masculine and feminine genders.
Note! A significant number of nouns denoting animals do not have a special form to distinguish the sexes and exist in the language only in one gender, un éléphant elephant, female elephant; un corbeau raven, crow; une souris mouse. If necessary, the words mâle or femelle can be added to them:
un mustique mâle male mosquito
un mustique femelle female mosquito
In inanimate nouns une affaire, une fête, un verre, le pain the gender is not motivated and is a purely formal establishment. These nouns are used in only one gender.
§ 6. Sometimes remembering gender can be facilitated by the semantics of the noun.
Typically masculine nouns:
names of trees: le sapin, le bouleau, le chêne, le tilleul, etc.;
names of metals: le fer, le cuivre, lacier, etc. (Excl.: la fonte);
names of days, months and seasons: lundi m, mai m, eté m, etc.;
names of languages: le français, langlais, le russe, etc.;
names of parts of speech: un nom, un verbe, un adjectif, etc.
Typically feminine nouns:
names of sciences: la médecine, la botanique, etc. (Excl.: le droit);
names of diseases: la peste, la grippe, la toux, etc. (Excl.: le rhume, le diabète, le choléra);
names of fruits: une pêche, une orange, une pomme, etc. (Excl.: un citron, un apricot)
Note! Nouns in eur names of masculine persons: un vendeur, un acheteur, etc. Nouns in eur are names of abstract concepts of the feminine gender: la douleur, la pâleur (Excl.: le bonheur, le malheur, lhonneur).
§ 7. If a country's name ends in e, it is usually feminine:
la France, lItalie, la Grèce, la Russie (Excl.: le Mexique, le Mozambique),
if with another vowel or consonant, then it is usually masculine:
le Congo, le Canada, le Brésil, le Japon, le Maroc.
§ 8. Some suffixes can also help recognize the gender of nouns.
The most common masculine suffixes:
age, eau, ment, isme, ier, teur.
The most common feminine suffixes:
ance, ence, aison, ison, sion, tion, ure, ture, tude, ade, ée, esse.
§ 9 . The gender of animate female nouns that have paired formations can be expressed in the forms of the article or other noun determiners, changes in endings, and special suffixes.
General rule: In writing, add a silent - e to the masculine form.
If a noun in the masculine gender ends in - e, then it does not change in the feminine gender; in this case, only the article is the indicator of gender:
un élève une élève
un malade une malade
un pianiste une pianiste
un secretaire une secretaire
as well as the noun enfant m, f child (boy, girl).
In some cases, the ending - e is only a graphic sign and does not change the pronunciation:
un ami une amie
un rival une rival
un Espagnol une Espagnole
un fiancé une fiancée
In other cases, adding -e causes phonetic changes:
1) The final unpronounceable consonant begins to sound and is sometimes voiced:
un bavard une bavard
un parent une parent
un étudiant une étudiante
un Anglais une Anglaise
2) The nasal vowel ceases to be nasal, and the final - n is pronounced, which sometimes entails a change in the quality of the vowel:
- an un partisan une partisan [ɑ̃ an]
— ain un Africain une Africaine [ɛ̃ ɛn]
- in un cousin une cousine [ɛ̃ in]
— un un brun une brune [œ̃ yn]
Various spelling changes occur in the following cases:
Masculine and feminine gender in French
Gender of nouns
In French, there are masculine and feminine genders of nouns.
1. The most common way to form feminine nouns is to add an ending -e to a masculine noun, for example:
- un Anglais - Englishman, une Anglaise - Englishwoman;
- un voisin - neighbor, une voisine - neighbor;
- un serveur - waiter, une serveuse - waitress.
2. Nouns ending in silent - e, do not change in the feminine gender, for example:
- un violoniste - violinist, une violoniste - violinist;
- un complice - accomplice, une complice - accomplice;
- un réaliste - realist, une réaliste - realist.
3. Nouns ending - er in the masculine gender, in the feminine gender they get the ending - here, For example:
- le banquier - banker (bank employee), la banquière - bank employee;
- le cuisinier - cook, la cuisinière - cook;
- le couturier - tailor, la couturière - seamstress.
4. If a masculine noun ends with a nasal vowel, then when forming the feminine gender, a silent one is added - e, and the ending loses its nasal sound.
- un copain - friend, une copine - friend;
- un amant - lover, une amante - mistress.
5. When forming a feminine noun from a masculine noun that ends - en, -ien, -on, as well as in the word paysan, a silent is added - e. Wherein - n doubles, for example:
- le végétarien - vegetarian, la végétarienne - vegetarian;
- le chien – dog, la chienne – dog;
- le paysan - peasant, la paysanne - peasant woman.
6. If a feminine noun is formed from a masculine noun with the ending - f, then a silent is added - e, and the ending changes - v. The vowel before the ending becomes long, for example:
- le actif - activist, la active - activist.
Gender of adjectives
In French, adjectives can be masculine or feminine.
1. One of the ways to form a feminine adjective is to add - e to a masculine adjective, for example:
- fort – strong, forte – strong;
- principal - main, principale - main;
- capital – main, capitale – main.
2. If a feminine adjective is formed from a masculine adjective that ends in - c(pronounced), then in a feminine adjective the ending will change to - que, For example:
- public - public, publique - public.
But if the ending is c– is silent, then the feminine adjective receives the ending - che, For example:
- blanc - white, blanche - white.
3. If a masculine adjective has the ending - f, then when a feminine adjective is formed, it receives the ending - ve:
- neuf - new, neuve - new.
4. If a masculine adjective has the ending - g, then in the feminine gender it goes into the ending - gue:
- long – long, longue – long.
5. Adjectives ending in the masculine gender - al, when forming the feminine gender they receive the ending - ale, For example:
- amical – friendly, amicale – friendly.
6. The ending of masculine adjectives -el when changing to feminine forms - elle. In addition, -ul becomes -ulle, but the pronunciation remains the same:
- cruel - cruel, cruelle - cruel.
7. If the adjective ends in - eil, then when the feminine gender is formed it receives the ending - eille, but the pronunciation does not change, for example:
- pareil – similar, pareille – similar.
8. If the masculine adjective has the ending - il, then in the feminine gender it takes on the ending - ile, For example:
- civil - civil, civile - civil.
9. End - n upon formation of the feminine gender it becomes - ne, but adjectives ending in - on change the ending to - onne, For example:
- fin – thin, fine – thin.
The exception is: paysan - peasant, paysanne - peasant.
10. End - ien goes into the feminine ending - ienne:
- Italien - Italian, Italienne - Italian.
11. If a masculine adjective has a silent ending - er, then in the feminine gender they add - e and the sign "`":
- premier - first, première - first.
12. Ending - eur changes to - euse, For example:
- rieur - funny, rieuse - funny.
13. End - teur in the masculine gender it changes to - touse in the feminine, if it is formed from a verb having in the infinitive - t before ending, for example:
- flotteur - floating, flottouse - floating.
14. Other adjectives ending - teur in the masculine gender, which are not formed from verbs with - t at the root, they get the ending - trice:
- protecteur - protective, protectrice - protective.
13. End - s changes to ending - se, for example: gris - gray, grise - gray. Exceptions to this rule are:
- frais – fresh, fraiche – fresh;
- tiers – third, tierce – third.
15. When forming the feminine gender, some adjectives double - s, such as:
- gros – thick, grosse – thick;
- gras – fat, grasse – fat;
- las – tired, lasse – tired;
- métis – mixed, métisse – mixed;
- exprès – decisive, expresse – decisive;
- épais – thick, épaisse – thick;
- profès - one who has made a vow, professe - one who has made a vow.
- bas – low, basse – low.
16. Adjectives in the masculine gender ending - et, in the feminine gender they acquire the ending – ette:
- coquet - charming, coquette - charming.
There are ten adjectives that end in - et, but in the feminine gender they get the ending - ete, namely:
- complet – filled, complète – filled;
- concret – specific, concrète – specific;
- secret - secret, secrete - secret;
- incomplèt – unfinished, incomplète – unfinished;
- indiscret – immodest, indiscrète – immodest;
- inquiet – restless, inquiète – restless;
- désuet – outdated, désuète – outdated;
- discret – modest, discrète – modest;
- quiet – calm, quiète calm;
- replet - portly, replète - portly.
Feminine adjectives
The general rule is that the feminine gender of adjectives in French is formed by adding an "e" to the masculine form: un cahier bleu - une cravate bleue.
If the original form of the masculine adjective ends in “e”, no change occurs: un livre utile - une chose utile.
To form the feminine form, French adjectives can double the final consonant of the masculine form. The following cases are distinguished:
1. doubling “l” in adjectives ending in -el, -eil: un homme cruel - une loi cruelle, un sentiment pareil - une faiblesse pareille
The same thing happens in the words nul and gentil: une copie nulle, une manière gentille
2. doubling “n” in adjectives ending with -en, -on: une route aérienne, une fille bretonne
All other adjectives ending in “n” (-an, -in, -ain, -ein, -un), except for “paysan,” do NOT double the final vowel: la langue persane, une pièce voisine, une voix hautaine, une collection pleine, une chambre commune
But: la communauté paysanne
3. doubling “t” in adjectives ending with -et: une robe coquette
Attention: the final consonant “t” in the feminine gender is NOT doubled:
A. all other adjectives ending in (-ot, -at): une réponse idiote, une situation délicate
b. the following exceptions:
Many adjectives, when forming the feminine gender, in addition to adding “e”, simultaneously undergo the replacement of the final vowel form of the masculine gender:
a. f - v: naïf - naïve, bref - breve
b. x - s: adjectives ending in -eux and the adjective “jaloux”: heureux - heureuse, jaloux - jalouse
x - ss: faux - fausse, roux - rousse
x - c: doux - douce
With. s - c: tiers - tierce
s - ch: frais - fraîche
d. c - ch: blanc - blanche, sec - sèche
c - qu: franc - franque, public - publique, caduc - caduque, ammoniac - ammoniaque, turc - turque
Warning: grec - grecque
d. n - gn: benin - benigne, malin - maligne
The feminine gender of adjectives in French can be formed independently of any rule:
Adjectives ending in -er, -ier have a spelling feature in the feminine gender: they acquire the so-called. grave accent over “è”: léger - légère, dernier - dernière.
When forming the feminine gender, some adjectives undergo changes in their original form:
Formation of feminine adjectives in -eur:
If such an adjective is formed from an existing verb, then the suffix “euse” will be in the feminine gender. For example: menteur - menteuse (derived from the verb mentir)
If not, then the suffix is “trice”. For example: protecteur - protectrice, acteur - actrice (the verbs protecter, actor DO NOT exist)
If the adjective ending in -eur is of Latin origin, then it changes according to the general rule:
french-online.ru
Colors in French
In this lesson we will look at the basic colors in French and the rules for their use.
In French, color always comes after the noun:
un manteau noir [a man’tu noir]- black coat
– black pencil
An adjective denoting color agrees in gender and number with the noun to which it refers.
To indicate the feminine gender, add -e to the end of an adjective of color:
noir(m)- black
noire (f)– black
Adjectives ending in a masculine vowel or in the pronounced consonants -r and -l do not change the feminine pronunciation:
un crayon noir [un crayon noir]– black pencil
une chaise noire [une chaise noire]– black chair
Adjectives ending in the masculine gender with an unpronounceable consonant change their pronunciation when adding -e - the consonant becomes pronounced:
un livre vert [en livre ver]– green book
une lampe verte [un lampe verte]– green lamp
at the same time, the voiceless consonant “s” becomes voiced:
un oiseau gris [en oiseau: gris]– gray bird
une cravate grise [une cravate grise]– gray tie
If the masculine adjective of color already has an e at the end, then it remains unchanged:
rouge(m)- red
rouge (f)– red
There are exceptions, you need to remember them:
blanc (m)- white
blanche (f)– white
To form the plural at the end of the adjective we add for the masculine gender -s, and for the feminine gender -es. The pronunciation does not change.
Adjectives of color formed from nouns (animals, flowers, fruits, metals) do not change their form regardless of gender and number, for example:
argent- silver, or- gold
caramel- caramel, chocolate- chocolate
cerise- cherry, citron- lemon
chair- bodily, olive- olive
orange- orange, prune- plum
If one noun of different colors is described, then the color adjectives do not change.
des drapeaux bleu, blanc, rouge- blue-white-red flag (flag of France)
There are adjectives of color - exceptions that change according to the rules, for example:
incarnate- raspberry
pourpre- purple
rose- pink
violet- violet
If different nouns of different colors are described, then color adjectives change in accordance with the rules:
des drapeaux bleus, blancs, rouges- blue, white, red flags
Below is a table of basic colors in French that are worth remembering:
french.crazygrammar.ru
Formation of feminine nouns
Le feminin des noms
The gender of nouns that have pair formations can be determined by the article or other determiners (demonstrative or possessive adjectives), as well as by endings or special suffixes.
The main and most common rule for the formation of the feminine gender is the addition -e to the masculine form: un avocat– une avocat+e.
If a word ends in a vowel or a pronounced consonant, the addition is e does not change his pronunciation - un ami - une amie, un marié - une mariée, un rival - une rivale, un Espagnol - une Espagnole.
If the masculine form ends in a silent, unpronounceable consonant, adding -e changes its pronunciation:
- The final silent consonant becomes pronounced, and is sometimes voiced:
un Allemand - une Allemande, un candidat - une candidate, un Japonais - une Japonaise,
un gagnant- une gagnante.
2. The nasal vowel loses its nasality and the consonants m or n become pronounceable:
— an un artisan – une artisane [ɑ̃ -an]
— ain un Américain – une Américaine [ɛ̃-ɛn]
— in un voisin – une voisine [ɛ̃-in]
— un un brun – une brune [œ̃-yn]
If the masculine form is written with the letter –e at the end, in this case it does not change in the feminine gender, only the article changes:
un Russe – une Russe
un photographe – une photographe
un biologiste – une biologiste
un pilote – une pilote
un journaliste- une journaliste
un enfant – une enfant
Below are cases with endings that have different spelling changes:
Some nouns have two different forms to indicate masculine and feminine:
Some nouns, having a special form in the feminine gender, still retain the root of the masculine forms.
Some French nouns that denote profession, just like in Russian, are not used and do not form the feminine form:
Mme Mérieux est le professeur de nos enfants. Madame Merier is our children's teacher.
Sa fille est un peintre celèbre. His daughter is a famous artist.
If it is necessary to clarify, the word femme is used before the profession:
Une femme médecin, une femme diplomate, etc.
Please note that words denoting professions and having only a masculine form do not always coincide with the Russian versions:
une femme sculpteur - female sculptor (one form in both languages);
une femme peintre – artist (in Russian they have a feminine form).
There are a number of nouns that are used only in the masculine or feminine form:
une victime - victim
une personne - person, personality
un témoin - witness
un assassin - killer
un possesseur - owner etc.
Cette fille est le témoin du crime. This girl is a witness to a crime.
Elle est l'assassin. She's a killer.
Some French nouns, depending on their gender, have different meanings- homonyms.
francaisonline.com
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