The Perfect French with Dinana: Gender of Nouns in French

Overview

• Focus on understanding gender of nouns in French.
• Aimed at French learners.
• Lesson includes specific nouns always feminine/masculine.
• Also covers some countries and exercises.
• Lesson spans pages 15-23 of the book.

Introduction to French Nouns

• Nouns represent objects, people, animals, places, etc.
• More nouns known = better expression in French.
• All French nouns are feminine or masculine.

Obvious Gender Rules

• Some nouns have obvious gender based on their meaning.
  • e.g., "un garçon" (boy) is masculine, "une femme" (woman) is feminine.

The 90% Rule

• 90% of nouns ending in "-e" are feminine.
• Other endings usually indicate masculine nouns.
• Exceptions exist; useful for beginners.

Specific Endings for Masculine Nouns

• Nouns ending in:
  • -al, -ail, -eau, -isme, -ment are typically masculine.
• Exceptions include certain nouns like "la page" and "la plage".

Topics that are Always Masculine

• Days of the week, seasons, numbers, languages.
• English words used in French are mostly masculine.

Specific Endings for Feminine Nouns

• Nouns ending in:
  • -ade, -ée, -sion, -tion are typically feminine.
• Specific exceptions such as "une nuit", which is masculine.

Professions and People

• Some nouns don't change; only the article changes.
  • e.g., "un/une architecte".
• Many nouns change with gender, often by adding "-e".
  • Changes pronunciation when ending in a consonant.

Gender of Countries

• Countries have gender; typically feminine if ending in "-e".
• Plural countries like "les États-Unis".

Gender Invariant Nouns

• Some nouns have fixed gender irrespective of the person.
  • e.g., "un bébé" (always masculine), "une star" (always feminine).

Same Noun, Different Gender, Different Meaning

• Some nouns change meaning with gender.
  • e.g., "le mort" (dead person) vs. "la mort" (death).

Exercises and Resources

• Exercises 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 in the book.
• Audio available for additional practice.

Conclusion

• This lesson covers extensive details on gender of nouns.
• Next lesson will cover plural forms of nouns.