French: Masculine and feminine nouns

Nouns are words for people or things.

In French all nouns are either masculine or feminine and this has an impact on the words you use with them.

'A' and 'the' (known as 'articles') are English words that we put before a noun to talk about it. For example ‘a pen’ or ‘the pen’.

In French we do the same thing. However, French articles can either be singular or plural and masculine or feminine depending on the noun.

Find out more below:

We use these words (also known as indefinite articles) before the noun when we are talking about something that's not specific.

It's the same as using a, an or some in English, for example "a sandwich".

In French, nouns can be masculine or feminine, so if we want to say a, we use either un for masculine nouns or une for feminine nouns.

Here are some examples:

We use these words (also known as definite articles) when we are talking about a specific noun.

It is the same as saying the in English, for example "the cat".

To say the in French, there are a few different words depending on the noun:

• le is for masculine nouns
• la is for feminine nouns
• l’ is for masculine or feminine nouns that begin with a vowel or some words that begin with a h
• les is for plural nouns - when there is more than one item

Here are some examples:

In English, if there is more than one thing, we normally add s to the end of a regular noun to make it plural. For example:

• one car
• two cars

In French, we also add s to most nouns to make them plural.

• la tablette – the tablet computer
• les tablettes – the tablet computers

If a noun ends in -s, -x or -z, it stays the same when there is more than one.

• le nez – the nose
• les nez – the noses

If a word ends in –al, you normally take off the l and add ux to make it plural:‎

• l'animal – the animal
• les animaux – the animals

Words ending in -eau and -eu have an x at the end when they become plural:‎

Key French words

Which languages are you spoken in your class or school?

Do any of these have masculine and feminine nouns?

You can listen to examples of old English online.

Try listening to an example and discuss what this tells us about languages and how they change over time.