What is the difference between masculine and feminine in french?

Answer 1

In French, nouns are assigned genders. It may seem odd because this doesn't happen in English. At times, it can be frustrating.

In place of English "the," we use "la," "le," "l'" or "les."

la = feminine = la femme (the woman)

le = masculine = le papier (the paper)

l' = used whether masculine or feminine, when le/la comes before a vowel = l'oeuf (the egg)

les = plural, used whether masculine or feminine = les pommes (the apples)

In place of the English "a," we use "une," "un," or "des."

une = feminine = une maison ( a house)

un = masculine = un arbre (a tree)

des = plural = des chats (cats. For example, J'aime des chats! = I love cats. It is an indefinite article.)

In place of the English "my," we use "mon" or "ma."

There are some obvious examples of suffixes that are used to indicate noun gender.

un danseur = a male dancer

une danseuse = a female dancer

-euse is a commonly used suffix to indicate gender, as is "ere" or adding "e" to the end of the word.

However, most words don't have any clues as to their gender and must be learned!

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

In French, masculine and feminine are grammatical genders used to classify nouns, adjectives, and articles. Masculine nouns typically end in a consonant, while feminine nouns often end in -e. Adjectives and articles must agree in gender with the nouns they modify.