[Originally posted on 11/11/13 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by Remy]
A noun is a word that represents a person, place, or thing, whether concrete (e.g., chair, dog) or abstract (idea, happiness).
In French, all nouns have a gender – they are either masculine or feminine.
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 feminine, even when the person or victim is a man.
It is very important to learn a noun’s gender along with the noun itself because articles, adjectives, some pronouns, and some verbs have to agree with nouns; that is, they change depending on the gender of the noun they modify.
There is no easy way to determine the gender of every noun, and you have to remember the gender with each word. But a number of patterns in suffixes and word endings are helpful: some tend to indicate masculine or feminine nouns (be careful with the exceptions, that are not listed below).
Masculine endings:
- -age, for ex: barrage (in English: dam)
- -b, for ex: plomb (in English: lead)
- -ble, for ex: comptable (in English: accountant)
- -c, for ex: porc (in English: pork)
- -cle, for ex: oncle (in English: uncle)
- -d, for ex: pied (in English: foot)
- -de, for ex: hybride (in English: hybrid)
- -é, for ex: carré (in English: square)
- -eau, for ex: manteau (in English: coat)
- -ège, for ex: piège (in English: trap)
- -et, for ex: poulet (in English: chicken)
- -eur, for ex: professeur (in English: teacher)
- -f, for ex: cerf (in English: stag)
- -i, for ex: pari (in English: bet)
- -ing, for ex: planning (in English: planning)
- -isme, for ex: capitalisme (in English: capitalism)
- -k, for ex: tank (in English: tank)
- -l, for ex: fusil (in English: rifle)
- -m, for ex: prénom (in English: first name)
- -me, for ex: synonyme (in English: synonym)
- -ment, for ex: paiement (in English: payment)
- -n, for ex: garçon (in English: boy)
- -o, for ex: zoo (in English: zoo)
- -oir, for ex: couloir (in English: lobby)
- -one, for ex: cyclone (in English: cyclone)
- -ou, for ex: hibou (in English: owl)
- -p, for ex: loup (in English: wolf)
- -r, for ex: char (in English: tank)
- -s, for ex: tapis (in English: carpet)
- -ste, for ex: cycliste (in English: cycler)
- -t, for ex: yacht (in English: yacht)
- -tre, for ex: lustre (in English: ceiling light)
- -u, for ex: aperçu (in English: outline)
- -x, for ex: choix (in English: choice)
Feminine endings:
- -ace, for ex: face (in English: face)
- -ade, for ex: limonade (in English: limonade)
- -ale, for ex: cathédrale (in English: cathedral)
- -ance, for ex: romance (in English: romance)
- -be, for ex: syllabe (in English: syllable)
- -ce, for ex: force (in English: strength)
- -e, for ex: robe (in English: dress)
- -ée, for ex: soirée (in English: evening/party)
- -esse, for ex: maîtresse (in English: schoolteacher)
- -eur, for ex: chaleur (in English: heat)
- -fe, for ex: carafe (in English: carafe)
- -ie, for ex: poulie (in English: pulley)
- -ière, for ex: fermière (in English: farmer)
- -ine, for ex: piscine (in English: swimming pool)
- -ion, for ex: éducation (in English: education)
- -ique, for ex: logique (in English: logic)
- -ire, for ex: baignoire (in English: bathtub)
- -ise, for ex: franchise (in English: franchise agreement)
- -ite, for ex: bronchite (in English: bronchitis)
- -lle, for ex: fille (in English: girl)
- -mme, for ex: femme (in English: woman)
- -nde, for ex: seconde (in English: second)
- -nne, for ex: nonne (in English: nun)
- -ole, for ex: auréole (in English: halo)
- -se, for ex: course (in English: race)
- -sion, for ex: pression (in English: pressure)
- -son, for ex: maison (in English: house)
- -té, for ex: acidité (in English: acidity)
- -tié, for ex: amitié (in English: friendship)
- -tion, for ex: partition (in English: score)
- -ue, for ex: grue (in English: crane)
- -ule, for ex: particule (in English: particle)
- -ure, for ex: voiture (in English: car)
Selected comments on original post
Ummmmmmmmmmmm, I would like to point out that you have -eur in both masculine and feminine.
Remy [contributor]
Most nouns ending in “-eur” (e.g.”chauffeur”, contrôleur”) are masculine, but some are feminine (e.g. “chaleur”, “faveur”).
Duolinguists 