Nouns: Declension

01

Gender: Masculine and Feminine

Every noun is assigned a grammatical gender. For living beings, this usually corresponds to biological sex. For inanimate objects, the gender is arbitrary and must be memorized as part of the vocabulary. Knowing the gender is necessary because it dictates which article (like le or la) and which adjective form to use.

• Le père est content.

  The father is happy. (Masculine)

• La mère est contente.

  The mother is happy. (Feminine)

02

Identifying Gender by Endings

While there are many exceptions, the spelling of a noun often provides a clue to its gender.

• Feminine clues: Nouns ending in -e are frequently feminine. Specific endings like -tion, -sion, and -té are almost exclusively feminine.
• Masculine clues: Nouns ending in a consonant are often masculine. However, endings like -age and -isme are masculine despite ending in -e.

• une maison

  a house (Feminine)

• la liberté

  liberty (Feminine)

• le fromage

  the cheese (Masculine, despite ending in -e)

03

Standard Plural Formation

To change a noun from singular to plural, the general rule is to add the letter -s to the end of the word. Note that in spoken language, this final -s is usually silent. Consequently, the singular and plural forms often sound exactly the same; the distinction is heard through the changing article (e.g., le becomes les).

• un chat

  a cat

• des chats

  cats

• l'étudiant

  the student

• les étudiants

  the students

04

Irregular Plurals

There are specific groups of nouns that do not follow the standard -s rule.

• Ending in -au, -eau, -eu: These nouns take an -x in the plural.
• Ending in -al: These nouns typically change the ending to -aux.
• Invariable nouns: If a singular noun already ends in -s, -x, or -z, the form does not change in the plural.

• un bateau

  a boat

• des bateaux

  boats

• un journal

  a newspaper

• des journaux

  newspapers

• une souris

  a mouse

• des souris

  mice

05

Absence of Case Declension

In languages with case systems (like German or Latin), a noun changes its ending depending on whether it is the subject, direct object, or indirect object. Here, the noun remains the same. Grammatical relationships are instead established through word order and prepositions.

• L'enfant regarde le chien.

  The child looks at the dog.

• Le chien regarde l'enfant.

  The dog looks at the child.

In the examples above, l'enfant and le chien do not change spelling when they switch roles from subject to object.