Gender of Nouns
Master Gender of Nouns for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Every French noun is masculine or feminine, which affects the article and any adjectives used with it.
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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.
Topic overview
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and that gender never changes. It decides which article goes in front of the noun and how any adjective describing it must agree.
Some endings are a reliable guide. Nouns ending in -tion, -sion, -té, -ette and -ance are almost always feminine, so la nation, la beauté and la fourchette. Nouns ending in -age, -ment, -eau and -isme are almost always masculine, giving le fromage, le gouvernement and le bureau.
The endings help but they do not cover everything, and there are exceptions — le musée and le lycée end in -ée but are masculine. The reliable approach is to learn every new noun with its article attached, so you memorise la table rather than table on its own.
Revision notes
Why gender matters
Gender decides the article: le or la, un or une.
It also decides adjective agreement, so a feminine noun needs a feminine adjective. Getting the gender wrong therefore produces two errors, not one — the article and the adjective both become wrong.
Feminine endings
-tion, -sion, -té, -ette, -ance, -ence, -ie, -ure are usually feminine.
So la nation, la télévision, la beauté, la fourchette, la chance, la voiture. These endings are among the most reliable patterns in the language.
Masculine endings
-age, -ment, -eau, -isme, -oir, -ier are usually masculine.
So le fromage, le gouvernement, le bureau, le tourisme, le couloir. Watch for exceptions such as la plage and la page, which end in -age but are feminine.
Key points
- Every French noun is masculine or feminine.
- Gender decides the article and adjective agreement.
- Endings such as -tion and -té are usually feminine.
- Endings such as -age and -ment are usually masculine.
- Endings are a guide, not a rule.
- Learn each noun together with its article.
Worked examples
Example 1
Give the correct definite article for the noun nation, and state its gender. [2 marks]
Working
Example 2
Give the correct definite article for fromage and explain your choice. [2 marks]
Working
Example 3
Explain why getting a noun's gender wrong causes more than one error. [2 marks]
Working
Common mistakes
Assuming French gender matches English logic.
There is no logic to it — la table and le livre must simply be learned.
Trusting endings absolutely.
La plage ends in -age but is feminine.
Learning nouns without their article.
Learn la table, not table, so the gender comes with the word.
Forgetting gender affects adjectives too.
A wrong gender produces a wrong adjective ending as well.
Exam tips
- Always learn a noun with le or la attached.
- Use the ending patterns as a first guess.
- Watch for the common exceptions.
- Check adjective agreement follows the gender.
Key terms
- Gender
- Whether a noun is masculine or feminine.
- Masculine
- Taking le or un.
- Feminine
- Taking la or une.
- Agreement
- Changing an adjective to match the noun's gender.
Related topics
Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.