3In this unit you will learn many nouns concerning everyday life from daily activi-
ties to common health issues. Since French nouns (for people as well as things)
can be either masculine or feminine in gender and singular or plural in number,
it is necessary to know a few generalities about the gender and number of nouns
and the appropriate articles that precede them.Le genre et le nombre des noms (Gender and
number of nouns)
As there is no logical explanation for the gender of objects or things, they simply
have to be memorized as being masculine or feminine. Nouns that describe peo-
ple, however, generally match the person’s gender. People of the male sex are mas-
culine. Th e singular masculine noun is preceded by a masculine article such as le,
un, and ce.le/un/ce facteur the/a/this mail carrierPeople of the female sex are feminine, except for those few professions that
were traditionally male professions, such as le professeur (the teacher, the profes-
sor—male or female). However, this rule is oft en disregarded in contemporary
French, and many people now say la professeur for a female teacher or professor.
Th e singular feminine noun is preceded by a feminine article such as la, une, or
cette.la/une/cette dame the/a/this ladyTh e defi nite article le or la preceding each noun in the vocabulary lists tell
you whether that noun is masculine (m.) or feminine (f.). Since nouns beginning
with vowel sounds are preceded by l’ instead of le or la, the gender of such nouns
is indicated in parentheses.l’artiste (m./f.) the male or female artist
l’homme (m.) the manOft en the feminine counterpart of a noun simply requires adding -e or -ne to
the masculine noun.le marié the groom
la mariée the bridele mécanicien the mechanic (male)
la mécanicienne the mechanic (female)Life and living · 1 ·
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