Transcript

The flower or the flower? The tooth or the tooth? The tiger or the tiger?

Today, we're going to look at tips for identifying whether words are masculine or feminine. I think these tips will really help you if it's a big difficulty for you to recognize whether words are masculine or feminine.

Hello everyone. Welcome to this new video. I hope you're all in good shape.

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So today, we're going to talk about masculine and feminine. I know that this topic can be very complex for you, either because in your language, words that are feminine in French are, for example, masculine or vice versa, or worse for English speakers, because there is no masculine or feminine in your language.

It's a real headache to remember in French which words to put "le" in front of and which to put "la" in front of.

Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can use to help you recognize them, not least thanks to word endings. There are word endings that indicate whether the word is masculine or feminine, and that's what we're going to look at together today.

Of course, as you know, with French, there are always, there are always exceptions. But if you keep these indications, because they are not really rules, but rather indications, in 80 % of the cases, you will be right.

And of course, don't worry if you make a few mistakes. If you confuse the masculine and feminine on certain words, French speakers will understand you just fine, even if it's never pleasant to make little mistakes.

As you know, I rarely make videos on conjugation or grammar, but grammar and conjugation are obviously essential to work on.

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Let's get back to masculine and feminine. As I was saying, it's the endings that tell you whether words are masculine or feminine. Rather than memorizing whether words are feminine or masculine, I'd advise you to memorize these endings.

It's a lot less complicated, a lot less work. 80 % of time, it'll be good, you won't go wrong.

Let's start with word endings.

First, there are the "ette" words. A fork, a trumpet, a toilet.

Of course, you know French, there are always exceptions. For example, here, an exception is a skeleton. But as I was saying, 80 % of the time, words ending in "ette" will be feminine words.

By the way, please feel free to comment if you know of any other exceptions.

Then there are the "ion" endings. For example, discussion, mission, demonstration, action or prohibition. Then there are words in "ance - ence". Luck, power, vacation, experience, science or competence.

The only exception is the word "silence". Silence.

Words ending in ade, ode and ude are usually feminine.

A salad. A tornado. A walk. A fashion. A method or even a period, for the ending "ode".

And for the ending "ude", we have, for example, solitude, a habit or a certainty. Of course, as I said, there are always small exceptions.

For example, a stadium, a code or an episode, such as an episode of a TV series.

Té. The words ending in "té" are mostly feminine, too. There's liberty, equality and fraternity. There's also health, half, society and friendship.

As usual, there are exceptions, and this is particularly true of the side and summer. The season, summer. Then there are the words that end in "lle".

So endings in "ille", in "elle", in "aille", in "eille" or in "ouille".

We have the city, the girl, the bike seat, the mutual, the size, the size of the clothes, the battle, a frog, a wonder or a bottle, there are plenty.

Then there are the "ure" words, which are mostly feminine. URE.

Car, temperature, lock or break. Then there are words in "asse" and "esse", so asse and esse are mostly feminine.

The cup, the terrace, sadness, wisdom or tenderness.

"eur" for inanimate things. So, for example, when we're not talking about someone's job, but rather about an object or a concept. In most cases, "eur" will be the ending of words that are feminine.

For example the flower, the fear, the heat or the color.

Of course, this list of endings is by no means exhaustive. And by the way, if you know of any other endings that are typical of feminine or masculine words, don't hesitate to post them as a comment to help the rest of the community.

It's always interesting to get new tips.

Let's move on to the typical endings of masculine words. As with feminine words, these endings will give you an indication of gender in 80 % of cases.

Let's start with the "teur" words, teur.

Words ending in "teur" are mostly masculine. The fan, a vacuum cleaner, a fire extinguisher or a projector for watching movies.

Two exceptions that come to mind are height and slow. But like I said, most of the time, these are masculine words.

The "ment" endings.

A garment, a vouvoiement, a testament or a relief. Words ending in "ism" and "asm".

Racism, terrorism, enthusiasm or sarcasm - sarcasm is a joke.

Words ending in "phone". A telephone, a dictaphone, a microphone, a saxophone.

Words ending in "scope". A telescope, microscope or neuroscope. Words ending in "age".

A landing, a tattoo, an exhibition opening, a setting, a garage or even a heater. A few exceptions come to mind on this indication, namely the beach, the image and the page.

The "oir" words. A drawer, a mirror, a razor, a car tank, a dormitory or a urinal. Power.

Words ending with the letter "L". For example, "al", "il", "el", "ol".

A flight. A sunflower. A tunnel, a court, a newspaper or a thread.

Words ending with the "ar" sound.

There may be different spellings, for example just "ar" or "art", "ard", "ars", "arc".

A bar, a bus, a tank, a rampart when you have a wall or a shed.

One exception comes to mind: "a star". A movie star is someone who is very famous.

And finally, one of the last tips I can give you for spotting masculine words. It's words that end with the "o" sound.

So again, it can be spelled "au", "eau", "au", just an "o", "aud", "os" or "aut".

A piece, a cake, a knife, a bicycle, scissors, a boat, a toad, an artichoke, a pen, a kilo or a cigarette butt.

There's one big exception here. It's simply the word "water". Water that you drink, that's a feminine word.

That's it for today, I hope these hints and tips will really help you spot whether words are masculine or feminine.

I know it's often said that you just have to learn by heart, but that's a lot of stuff to remember, whereas here you just have to remember the endings, and it's a bit simpler.

Before you leave, don't forget to "like" the video and subscribe if you haven't already.

See you soon.