Genders
Table of Contents
I. Generally Feminine Endings
1. -Ve, TTe
“V” here stands for any vowel; “T” stands for any consonant.
From Latin feminine ending –a
- la rue, la patrie, la ville, la pomme (From Latin ruga, patria, villa, poma.)
- exceptions (Ve): le génie (genius, < Latin ingenium), un incendie (fire, < Latin incendium), le musée (museum, < Latin museum); un sosie (a doppelgänger, < Latin Sosia, < Greek Σοσίας)
- exceptions (TTe):
2. –té
From feminine Latin abstract nouns ending in -tas, -tát-
- la santé (Latin sanitát-), la bonté (Latin bonitát-)
- exceptions: le côté (Latin costatum?), le comité, le comté (both from Latin comitatus)
3. –tié
Also from feminine Latin nouns ending in -tas, -tát-
- la pitié (Latin pietát-), la moitié (Latin medietát-), l’amitié (Latin *amicitát-)
4. –eur
From Latin nouns ending in –or (masculine in classical Latin)
- la chaleur
- exception: l’honneur (masculine)
5. –on
Feminine, from Latin –io, –ión-
Four important words you need to learn:
- la raison (Latin ration–)
- la maison (Latin mansion–)
- la façon (Latin faction–)
- la leçon (Latin lection-)
A Subcategory: French Nouns Ending in -aison, etc.
The latin feminine ending –ation– also produced a feminine French suffix –eison, -oison, -aison, giving:
- une livraison, une pâmoison, (une raison,), une liaison, une pendaison, (une guérison), une démangeaison, une inclinaison (a literal bending over); une terminaison, une déclinaison, une cargaison
But masculine:
- Poison, which should be feminine like the four above, since it comes from Latin potion-. It changed its gender in the modern period.
- Natively French words, in which the –on is a kind of diminutive: chaton, chiffon, coupon, fiston, jeton, mouton, oison, peloton, poisson (kitten, rag, coupon, sonny, token/chip, sheep, gosling, [execution-]squad/[cycling-]peloton, fish)
- Words borrowed from Greek. These are technical terms in various fields: colon; électron, neutron, positron; néon; orphéon
6. –ion
From Latin feminine nouns ending -(t)io, –tión-
- nation, exploitation, détermination, fulmination, partition, fusion, mission, participation, etc., etc., etc.
7. –ance, –ence
From feminine Latin abstract nouns ending in –antia, -entia
- la chance, la rémontrance, une instance; plaisance; insistence, la régence, impénitence
8. –ière
From Latin -aria
- prière (Latin *precaria), lumière (Latin *luminaria), clairière (clair + -ière)
9. –oire
From Latin feminine ending –oria
- l’histoire (Latin historia), la gloire (Latin gloria), une victoire (Latin victoria)
The French feminine suffix –oire
- une baignoire, une écritoire, une bouilloire, une balançoire, une échappatoire (bathtub, writing-desk, kettle, swing/see-saw, loophole)
But masculine, coming from Latin neuter ending –torium with the meaning “a place where a certain activity takes place.”
- le conservatoire, le consistoire, le Directoire, un interrogatoire, un laboratoire, le prétoire, le purgatoire, un réfectoire, un répertoire, un réquisitoire, un vomitoire
Also masculine, two words derived from the infinitive boire
- un pourboire (tip), un déboire (a bad after-taste; disappointment[s])
10. Names of countries and continents ending in an e caduc (e sourd, e muet)
From Latin feminine endings –a, -ia
- la France, l’Angleterre, l’Allemagne, la Suède, la Suisse
- exceptions: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Zaïre, le Tennessee
II. Generally Masculine Endings
1. Any vowel other than e caduc (except –té, tié)
- le cinéma, le visa, le café, un ovni, le parti, le piano, le menu
2. –eau (as an ending)
From Latin masculine ending –ellus
- le seau, le museau, le fuseau, le morceau, le tombeau, le plateau, le corbeau, le hameau, le sceau, le taureau, le niveau (bucket, snout, spindle, piece, tomb, plateau, crow, hamlet, seal, bull, level)
- Exceptions:
- The feminine word eau, from Latin aqua
- La peau (skin), from Latin pellis (f.)
- Exceptions:
3. –ment
From Latin verb + neuter ending –mentum
- le monument, le document, le bâtiment, le fondement
4. –isme, –asme
From masculine Latin endings -ismus, -asmus, from masculine Greek endings –ismos, -asmos
- enthousiasme, cataclysme, cartésianisme, communisme, malthusianisme, vampirisme, je-m’en-foutisme
5. Names of countries, etc., not ending in an e caduc
- l’Iran, le Canada, le Portugal, le Kentucky, le Nigẻria
6. Most nouns ending in a consonant
- un nabob, un parc, un dard, un if, du grog, un krach, un fil, un mois, un nain, un réduit, un chalet, un gaz (a nabab, a park, a dart/stinger, a yew tree, grog, a stock-market collapse, a thread/wire, a month, a dwarf, a shed, a chalet, a gas)
III. The E caduc: Can It Be Trusted?
A French noun ending in an e caduc will be feminine, if that e caduc derives from the Latin feminine ending –a (see I.1 above). But a final e caduc can have other origins as well.
1. E caduc as a support vowel
If the base of a noun ended in more than one consonant, a vowel was added to make pronunciation easier.
- Latin pater > patr- + support e > Modern French père
- Latin cumulus > cum(b)l + support e > Modern French comble (attic; limit; last straw)
- Latin regimen > regimn- + support e > Modern French régime
- Latin aster > astr- + support e > Modern French astre (heavenly body)
- Latin princeps > princ- + support e > Modern French prince
- Latin angelus > ang- + support e > Modern French ange
- Greek > apostolos > apostl- + support e > Modern French apôtre
2. Learned Borrowings, Particularly From Greek
a. From Greek nouns with a neuter –a ending
- problème (Greek problema), système (Greek systema), thème (Greek thema), anathème (Greek anathema), diadème (Greek diadema), –gramme (Greek –gramma), arôme (Greek aroma)
b. Linguistic terms, using the –ème ending based on neuter Greek ending –ema
- phonème, morphème, graphème, lexème, taxème
c. Borrowings from masculine Greek words ending in –los, –nos, etc.
- symbole (Greek symbolos), atome (Greek atomos), téléphone (presumably from a Greek -phonos)
- -scope words, from Greek –skopos: téléscope, microscope, horoscope
d. Borrowings from neuter Greek words ending in -on
- musée and lycée, from Greek mouseion and lykeion.
- Words ending in -gone (Greek -gonon): polygone, héxagone, etc.
- One word from a Greek word ending –mion: epithalame (wedding song), from Greek epithalamion.
- One important word using the Greek neuter participial ending -menon:
- un phénomène, le phénomène; plural: des phénomènes, les phénomènes (all pronounced the same way: [fenɔmεn])
e. Borrowings from masculine Greek nouns ending in –tês (-της)
In Greek these were 1st-declension nouns of masculine gender; in Latin, they were consequently given endings of the Latin 1st declension.
- prophète (Greek prophêtês, Latin propheta), ascète (Greek askêtês, Latin propheta), –naute (Greek –nautês, Latin nauta), poète (Greek poêtês, Latin nauta)
Juan Cena says
Thank you for attempting to support Net-neutrality. This is really meaningful to me. Thank you for fighting for our rights.
Mary Sidebottom says
Thank you. So helpful that you gave the Latin and Greek roots that explain so much about some of these genders. That has really helped me.
Julia says
Très utile! Je suis prof de français :)