One good way is to remember the article along with the noun.
LA table
LE livre
LA mère
LE père
LA lune
LE soleil
If you do that, it is simple.
If you know that "table" is feminine, then you'll know that it is:
"La table est ronde" while on the other hand it is :"le soleil est rond".
I am in my second year of french, and one thing that really frustrates me is the gender-agreement.
Does anyone know a good way to memorize the gender for the memory-impaired, or am I going to have to order everything in plural if I ever go to France?
2 answers
Learning the gender of nouns definitely causes problems for students, especially at first. E.G.'s idea is crucial = to learn the article (and thus the gender) as you meet each noun. Some words referring to masculine beings are masculine and others referring to feminine beings are feminine. When it comes to inamimate objects, there is no simple way!
Now that you are in French II, you may begin to see some suffixes that will identify the gender. Of course, not always because there are exceptions!
-age: usually feminine = la cage, une image, la page, etc.
- ble = usually feminine = une cible, une fable, une table
-de = usually feminine = la bride, la méthode
eau = usually feminine = l'eau, la peau
-eur = usually masculine = le professeur, le chausseur, le menteur, le danseur, le monsieur
-euse = usually feminine = la danseuse, la menteuse
-me/-mme = usually feminine - une larme, une plume, une madame
-ste = usually feminine = la liste, la piste, la modiste
Begin to form your own lists, but note the exceptions also as you go!
Sra (aka Mme)
Now that you are in French II, you may begin to see some suffixes that will identify the gender. Of course, not always because there are exceptions!
-age: usually feminine = la cage, une image, la page, etc.
- ble = usually feminine = une cible, une fable, une table
-de = usually feminine = la bride, la méthode
eau = usually feminine = l'eau, la peau
-eur = usually masculine = le professeur, le chausseur, le menteur, le danseur, le monsieur
-euse = usually feminine = la danseuse, la menteuse
-me/-mme = usually feminine - une larme, une plume, une madame
-ste = usually feminine = la liste, la piste, la modiste
Begin to form your own lists, but note the exceptions also as you go!
Sra (aka Mme)
1 answer