In French, all nouns – whether they refer to living beings or not – are either masculine or feminine.
If it’s a living being, the gender will be determined by the sex: feminine or masculine.
Struggling to remember which French words are feminine and which are masculine? There are several masculine nouns that follow feminine-noun patterns, and vice-versa. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. If, however, the adjective … French gender is a headache for many students of French. One of the hardest things for a native English speaker learning French, is remembering when to use the masculine “le” or “un” or the feminine “la” or “une”. The articles agree with the nouns they refer too, so they also have a gender. There is no “neutral” in French. The gender of some nouns makes sense (homme [man] is masculine, femme [woman] is feminine) but others don't: the words personne [person] and victime [victim] are always … Since nouns have no gender in English, it can be difficult for an English speaker to take seriously the idea of referring to a dining room table (la table) as a “she” or thinking of lipstick (le rouge à levres) as in any way masculine. table [feminine] a family sitting around the dinner table une famille assise autour de la table du dîner. All French nouns are either masculine or feminine. Pay close attention to the gender (masculine vs. feminine) of each noun (I’ve put the feminine nouns on the left and the masculine nouns on the right). Edit: the question I originally answered was worded as: Why does French (among other languages) still use masculine and feminine nouns, despite the fact that this seems entirely pointless and irrational? Even very advanced speakers of French have this problem, if their first language is English. Always getting the two mixed up? Click on any of the French words, listen and repeat. La table!, Le verre!, L’hôtel!, Une maison!, Un jardin! For example, if you're acquiring vocabulary through reading or watching a film, some of the time the article won't be present. A male dog masculine. Thanks for A2A Dean Nie. Masculine irregular adjectives The irregular adjectives shown in Table 7 have no rules and must be memorized. In French all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. In this lesson, you'll learn there are two genders for French nouns: masculine or feminine. One important way is what is referred to as grammatical gender. Is the word table in french masculine or feminine? It is in one or more of the lines below. Vous le trouverez dans une ou plusieurs des lignes ci-dessous. Feminine French nouns are coloured pink, obviously. Start studying French: Masculine or Feminine. 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. A small table stood next to the chair. noun [ countable ] /ˈteɪbəl/. This has nothing to do with biology, it’s just a way French organizes words.