Grammar: Nouns

Grammar: Nouns

Section: Basics of Nouns

• Nouns in French always have a gender, they are either masculine or feminine.

• This can affect the adjectives and articles associated with them.

• Masculine nouns usually end in -e but this is not a hard and fast rule.

• Feminine nouns often but not always end in -ion, -té, -ée, -euse or -ance.

• If a noun is masculine in the singular, the plural will be masculine too, and likewise for feminine.

Section: Definite Articles

• Definite articles in French translate as ‘the’ in English.

• The ones to revise are le (masculine singular), la (feminine singular) and les (plural).

• These change to l’ before a vowel or silent h.

Section: Indefinite Articles

• Indefinite articles translate as ‘a’ or ‘an’.

• The ones to revise are un (masculine) and une (feminine).

• For plural nouns, regardless of gender, ‘some’ is used, represented by des in French.

Section: Possessive Adjectives

• Possessive adjectives replace articles to show ownership.

• Remember that these must agree with the gender and number of the noun owned, not the owner.

• Examples include mon (my, masculine), ma (my, feminine) and mes (my, plural).

Section: Partitive Articles

• Use partitive articles when speaking about ‘some’ or ‘any’ of something.

• The forms to revise are du (masculin singular), de la (feminine singular), de l’ (before a vowel or silent h), and des (plural).

Section: Demonstrative Adjectives

• Demonstrative adjectives (this, that) must agree in gender and number with the noun they come before.

• The ones to revise are ce (masculine singular), cette (feminine singular), cet (masculine singular before a vowel or silent h) and ces (plural).