FlexiLingoIn one line
The gender of a non-human noun has no reason behind it and has to be learnt — but the ending gives it away most of the time.
The table
Feminine tells
| Ending | Confidence | Example |
|---|---|---|
-tion -sion | ~100% | la nation /la na.sjɔ̃/ la décision /la de.si.zjɔ̃/ |
-té -tié | high | la beauté /la bo.te/ l'amitié /la.mi.tje/ |
-aison | ~100% | la maison /la mɛ.zɔ̃/ la saison /la sɛ.zɔ̃/ |
-ette -elle | high | la vaisselle /la vɛ.sɛl/ la fourchette /fuʁ.ʃɛt/ |
-ure | high | la voiture /la vwa.tyʁ/ la nature /na.tyʁ/ |
-ence -ance | high | la science /la sjɑ̃s/ la chance /la ʃɑ̃s/ |
-ie | high | la vie /la vi/ la boulangerie /la bu.lɑ̃ʒ.ʁi/ |
-eur (an abstract idea) | medium | la couleur /ku.lœʁ/ la peur /pœʁ/ |
Masculine tells
| Ending | Confidence | Example |
|---|---|---|
-ment | ~100% | le moment /mɔ.mɑ̃/ le gouvernement /gu.vɛʁ.nə.mɑ̃/ |
-age | high | le ménage /me.naʒ/ le fromage /fʁɔ.maʒ/ |
-eau | high | le bateau /lə ba.to/ le tableau /ta.blo/ |
-isme | ~100% | le tourisme /lə tu.ʁism/ |
-ème | high | le problème /lə pʁɔ.blɛm/ le système /lə sis.tɛm/ |
-oir | high | le soir /lə swaʁ/ le miroir /lə mi.ʁwaʁ/ |
-eur (a man's job) | high | le professeur /lə pʁo.fɛ.sœʁ/ le serveur /lə sɛʁ.vœʁ/ |
| a final consonant | medium | le parc /paʁk/ le sport /spɔʁ/ |
A noun for a person takes its gender from the person
un étudiant · une étudiante — here gender carries meaning, unlike gender on an object.
And so do animals — but only the ones whose sex matters
| male | female | |
|---|---|---|
le chat /ʃa/ | la chatte /ʃat/ | cat |
le chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | la chienne /ʃjɛn/ | dog |
le lion /ljɔ̃/ | la lionne /ljɔn/ | lion |
le loup /lu/ | la louve /luv/ | wolf |
le coq /kɔk/ | la poule /pul/ | rooster · hen — two separate words |
le cheval /ʃə.val/ | la jument /ʒy.mɑ̃/ | horse · mare — two separate words |
la chatteis not the grammatical feminine ofchat— it is a different word, the way "rooster" and "hen" are. Here, as with people, gender carries meaning and you choose it.
But most animals have only one grammatical gender
Whatever sex they are, the article does not change:
| always feminine | always masculine |
|---|---|
la souris /su.ʁi/ mouse | le serpent /sɛʁ.pɑ̃/ snake |
la girafe /la ʒi.ʁaf/ giraffe | le poisson /pwa.sɔ̃/ fish |
la grenouille /la ɡʁə.nuj/ frog | le crapaud /lə kʁa.po/ toad |
la panthère /la pɑ̃.tɛʁ/ panther | le rossignol /lə ʁɔ.si.ɲɔl/ nightingale |
And if you do need to state the sex, mâle or femelle goes after it:
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| a male mouse | une souris mâle | /yn su.ʁi mɑl/ |
| a female snake | un serpent femelle | /œ̃ sɛʁ.pɑ̃ fə.mɛl/ |
The article does not change — une souris mâle stays feminine even though the mouse is male. The full animal vocabulary is in nature-animaux.
Exceptions
| Exception | What happens |
|---|---|
-age that is feminine | la page /paʒ/ la plage /plaʒ/ l'image /li.maʒ/ la cage /la kaʒ/ |
-eau that is feminine | l'eau /lo/ la peau /po/ |
-té that is masculine | le côté /lə ko.te/ l'été /le.te/ le comité /lə kɔ.mi.te/ |
-ée that is masculine | le musée /my.ze/ le lycée /li.se/ |
-tion that is masculine | almost none — le bastion /lə bas.tjɔ̃/ is the one common exception |
| Words with both genders | le livre /livʁ/ book / la livre /livʁ/ pound — the meaning changes |
la personne /la pɛʁ.sɔn/ | always feminine, even for a man |
Examples
| English | French | Gender | Tell |
|---|---|---|---|
| swimming | la natation /la na.ta.sjɔ̃/ | feminine | -tion |
| moment | le moment /mɔ.mɑ̃/ | masculine | -ment |
| car | la voiture /la vwa.tyʁ/ | feminine | -ure |
| boat | le bateau /lə ba.to/ | masculine | -eau |
| water | l'eau /lo/ | feminine | -eau exception |
| housework | le ménage /me.naʒ/ | masculine | -age |
| page | la page /paʒ/ | feminine | -age exception |
| museum | le musée /my.ze/ | masculine | -ée exception |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
le natation | la natation | -tion is always feminine |
la moment | le moment | -ment is always masculine |
le eau | l'eau — and it is feminine | de l'eau not du eau |
le page | la page | an -age exception |
la musée | le musée | an -ée exception |
Why it is so arbitrary
and the only right way to learn it
French gender comes from Latin and has been shuffled about for centuries. There is no logic under it — le soleil the sun is masculine and la lune the moon is feminine, and German has it the other way round.
So do not look for a reason. It will only frustrate you.
There is one right way to learn it: never memorise a noun bare.
| ❌ don't learn | ✅ learn |
|---|---|
voiture = car | la voiture = car |
livre = book | le livre = book |
The article is part of the word. Learn it separately and you will be guessing every time.
English gives you neither help nor hindrance here. English abandoned grammatical gender centuries ago, so nothing carries over — which means nothing misleads you either. This is not a habit to correct; it is a piece of information attached to every noun you learn, and the cost of skipping it compounds.
One practical note: getting a gender wrong does not spoil one word — the article, the adjective and the preposition all go wrong after it. One mistake shows up in three places.