Why do the french use masculine and feminine words?

Question

Why do the french use masculine and feminine words?

Answer 1

This is a quite tricky theme, but it has got a simple answer.

"Gender" of words may have 2 main roles:

1) As far as living beings are concerned:

_In some cases, they are used to differentiate males from females in certain activities, job, professions and among the animal kingdom (similar to German in that case), hence avoiding ambiguities.

eg: "un conseiller" (masculine) vs "une conseillère" (feminine): both mean "councellor", however, the gender of the subject is known. But that is not always the case, and quite a good deal of words are still limited to their masculine form, which leads a few to speak of "language sexism"

2) As far as objects, actions, ideas and concepts are concerned:

_The second and perhaps most important use of masculine/feminine words, however, is totally subconscient and most French people themselves do ignore it completely.

"Feminine" words in French are more general, vague, they express categories, species, groups of ideas, whereas "masculine" words are specific, precise and accurate, they refer to the things themselves.

You can define a masculine word with a feminine one, because that word necessarily belongs to a wider category of ideas, but you can hardly ever do the opposite, because if the language were a river, that would be like going against the main stream. It goes from broader (feminine) to thinner (masculine) like in a funnel, and defining a larger theme (feminine) with only one of its elements (masculine) would be either wrong or incomplete.

Eg: "Une boisson" is the feminine word for "a drink", but a drink may be "de l' alcohol" (alcohol), "du lait" (milk), "du vin" (wine), "du sirop" (syrup) etc... all of which are masculine words. Of course there are a few exceptions, but the idea's there.

Those, basically, are the 2 main functions of "word gender" in French.

Answer 2

brain is masculine Read More

Answer 3

Le is for masculine words, la is for feminine words. Read More

Answer 4

There is no word in French for the neuter pronoun "it" because French grammar knows only masculine and feminine gender. Use the masculine or feminine pronoun, il or elle, respectively, depending upon the gender of the antecedent. Where the gender of the antecedent is not specified, use the masculine form il. Neither. Only the nouns - and their related adjectives - are masculine and feminine in French. Read More

Answer 5

Lecture is a feminine noun in French. Use the feminine articles la or une. Read More

Answer 6

The gender is feminine when "shoes" is translated from English to French since the equivalent is chaussures. Some French speakers still use the word souliers, which is masculine. The respective pronunciations will be "sho-syoor" in the feminine and "soo-lyey" in the masculine in French. Read More

Answer 7

The word "enfant" is both a masculine and a feminine in French, so you can write "un enfant" for a boy (or even a girl) or "une enfant" (for a girl only). The plural "les enfants" could be both feminine and masculine, but it is very likely that the vast majority of French speakers understand it as masculine, the masculine being also the mode you use in French when being "unspecific" about the gender. Read More

Answer 8

Sport is a masculine, not a feminine, word in French. The masculine singular noun, which means "exercise," "sport" or "sports" in English, may be preceded immediately by the masculine singular le since French employs definite articles where English does and does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "(luh) spor" in Alsatian French. Read More

Answer 9

Joli (masculine, singular), jolis (masculine, plural), jolie (feminine, singular) and jolies (feminine plural) mean pretty. Beau (masculine, singular), beaux (masculine, plural), belle (feminine, singular) and belles (feminine, plural) mean beautiful. If you want to use the masculine, singular word for beautiful but the word after beings with a vowel, you use bel instead. Read More

Answer 10

The French word portable is masculine and may be used as follows: J'utilise un portable ("I use a notebook"). Read More

Answer 11

a and an are spelled 'un' or 'une' in French. Use 'un' with masculine nouns, and 'une' with feminine ones. Read More

Answer 12

If the noun is masculine, use 'le' If the noun is feminine, use 'la' If the noun is plural, use 'les' Read More

Answer 13

You use une when the following noun is feminine, un when the following noun is masculine. Read More

Answer 14

Fragrance is a feminine French word. Fragrance may be seen as pedantic, and most French would use 'parfum' (masc.) or 'odeur' (fem.) instead. Read More

Answer 15

you cannot "speak male or female" in French. You are only using words that can be masculine or feminine, but you use the same words regardless of your own gender. Read More

Answer 16

Règle is a feminine, not a masculine, word in French. The feminine singular noun, which translates as "rule" or "(the instrument) ruler" in English, may be preceded immediately by the feminine singular la since French employs definite articles where English does and does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "(la) reg" in Alsatian French and "(la) reh-gluh" in Provençal French. Read More

Answer 17

"Est" is a form of a verb in French. Nouns and adjectives can be masculine or feminine, but verbs are neither masculine nor feminine, and you could use them whatever is the gender of the subject: elle est jolie (she is pretty) - il est grand (he is tall). Read More

Answer 18

The word "flower" is feminine when translated from English to French. The feminine singular word fleur may be preceded immediately by the feminine singular word la since French employs definite articles where English does and does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "fluhr" in French. Read More

Answer 19

laide *Laide is correct for one feminine noun/person. If it's masculine you would use laid. Feminine plural is laides, masculine plural is laids. Or, if you don't know whether your noun is masculine or feminine, you could always use moche which works for both (moches in the plural). Read More

Answer 20

'Un' means the number one, but it is also the masculine form of a/an, as opposed to 'une' which is feminine. Read More

Answer 21

Child in French is translated 'enfant'. You may say both 'un enfant' (masc.) or 'une enfant' (fem.) (although there is a tendency to use it more in the masculine form) Read More

Answer 22

It depends on the subject. If you are talking to a girl, use "you" as feminine. If you are talking to a a male or both, you use the masculine Read More

Answer 23

Une stylo means 'handwriting pen' in French. Every object in French is either feminine or masculine. Une I think is masculine whilst Un is feminine. Une Stylo means 'a ball-point pen'. Une is a feminine word for 'a'. You can also use Un which is a musculine word for 'a'. -Melo Read More

Answer 24

Affirmatif in the masculine and affirmative in the feminine are French equivalents of the English word "affirmative." Specifically, the word functions as an adjective, interjection or noun in French. As an adjective, the word may be of feminine or masculine gender depending upon the femininity or masculinity of the speaker. French language-speakers regard the interjection and the noun as masculine. Whatever the meaning or use, the pronunciation will be "a-feer-ma-teef" in the masculine and "a-feer-ma-teev"… Read More

Answer 25

The word "violence" is feminine when translated from English to French. The feminine singular noun violence may be preceded immediately by the feminine singular word la since French employs definite articles where English does and does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "vyo-laws" in northerly French and "vyo-law-suh" in southerly French. Read More

Answer 26

English does not use genders for specific words. Read More

Answer 27

"le sel" is a masculine noun in French. You can use the definite article "le" (the), but not the undefinite "un" (a), as salt is uncountable; some salt is "du sel". Read More

Answer 28

There is no golden rule - you just have to learn all the words and memorise the gender. But, by and large, nouns which end in an -e are feminine and which don't are masculine eg une heure, un jour, une semaine, un mois, un an, une annee Read More

Answer 29

Masculine: un bon ami Feminine: une bonne amie Read More

Answer 30

Un rÃ©frigÃ©rateur is a masculine noun. We most often use the masculine noun "un frigo" instead, because it is much shorter and simpler. Read More

Answer 31

"une rÃªverie". It conveys the sense of daydreaming. When we are dreaming while asleep, we use the masculine "un rÃªve". Read More

Answer 32

Feminine describes the gender of the French word chauve-souris. The feminine singular noun, which translates as "bat," with the literal wording of "bald mouse," may be preceded immediately by the feminine singular la since French employs definite articles where English does and does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "(la) shov-soo-ree" in French. Read More

Answer 33

Masculine becomes the gender of the word "violin" when translated from English to French. The French equivalent, violon, may be preceded immediately by the masculine singular le since French employs definite articles where English does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "(luh) vyo-lo" in Cariocan Brazilian and in continental Portuguese. Read More

Answer 34

English doesn't have a strong distinction between masculine and feminine usage of the word "Wizard" but some people prefer to use "Sorceress" or "Mage" for the feminine. Read More

Answer 35

There are three different words for "the": use le for a singular masculine noun, la for a singular feminine noun, or les for a plural noun of either gender. Read More

Answer 36

Masculine form is "Ami" Feminine form is "Amie" (I'm from Canada, and have a lot of use for the french language Read More

Answer 37

"Mon" means "my" in French. It is singular and always followed by a masculine noun. The feminine is "ma", and you use "mes" when you own several things. Read More

Answer 38

Collines is a French equivalent of the English word "hills." The feminine plural noun may be preceded immediately by the feminine/masculine plural les since French employs definite articles even when English does not use "the." The pronunciation will be "(ley) ko-leen" in French. Read More

Answer 39

A hockey puck will be called "palet" (masculine noun) in mainland French, less often "une rondelle" (feminine noun). In Canadian French, "rondelle", "disque" (masc.) and "puck" are in use. Read More

Answer 40

'La femme' is the french term for 'the woman' but if you are thinking of a plural term you would use 'les femmes'. If you are talking about girls you would use the word 'fille' or plural 'filles'. Note: 'Les' is what you would use in front of a plural word, masculine or feminine. 'La' is what you would use for a feminine singular word. Read More

Answer 41

"Of (the) fashions" or "some fashions" as a feminine noun and "of methods" or "some methods" as a masculine noun are English equivalents of the French phrase des modes. Whatever the meaning or use, the pronunciation of the plural noun -- which also translates as "of (the)/some styles/trends" in the feminine and "of (the)/some modes/moods/stles/ways" in the masculine -- remains "dey muhd" in French. Read More

Answer 42

Translation: Merci pour le lire. "Le" assumes that the thing read is masculine. If it is feminine use "La". Read More

Answer 43

In French, the English word 'the' can be translated as 'le', 'la', or 'les'. 'Le' is used to describe singular, masculine nouns such as 'le livre' meaning 'the book'. 'La' is used for singular, feminine nouns such as 'la main' meaning 'the hand'. 'Les' is used for plural nouns that are masculine or feminine. For example, 'les livres' and 'les mains' both use 'les' because there is more than one of each. For words beginning… Read More

Answer 44

Je suis en Jamaïquewe use "en with Feminine island in French but we would say: Je suis à Cuba (Cuba is masculine) Read More

Answer 45

Questo is This (masculine), Questa is This (feminine) Read More

Answer 46

For one person: Bienvenu à (masculine) or Bienvenus à (masculine plural) or Bienvenue à (feminine) or Bienvenues à (feminine plural) If you aiming at different people then the most use way is Bienvenue à Read More

Answer 47

There are three different forms of the word "the" in the French language. "Le" is the masculine form of "the." "La" is the feminine form. "Les" is the plural form. For example, let's say you want to say "the cat" in French. The word for cat is "chat," which is masculine, so you would say "le chat." If you wanted to say "the beach," you would use the feminine noun of "plage," so it would… Read More

Answer 48

nÃ©e (feminine) means 'born' in French. Je suis nÃ©e le ... (date) means 'I was born on the ... The masculine is written nÃ©. Read More

Answer 49

It all depends on what your describing. If the noun you're describing is masculine or plural (such as french fries [les frites] or cake [le gateaux]) then you use delicieux. If the noun is feminine (such as ice cream [la glace]) you'd use delicieuse. Read More

Answer 50

Neither. English does not use grammatical gender. Read More

Answer 51

the word the in Spanish is use in different ways because in the Spanish language there is a masculine and a feminine. for example: the car, el carro masculine and the house, la casa feminine. Read More