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📖 French Articles & Noun Gender

Every French noun is masculine or feminine — learn the articles and patterns to get it right

A1 10 min read 5 sections

Two Genders

Every French noun is either masculine (masculin) or feminine (féminin). There is no neuter gender. The gender of a noun affects which article, adjective forms, and pronouns you use with it. While some genders are logical (un homme is masculine, une femme is feminine), most are arbitrary — a table (la table) is feminine, a book (le livre) is masculine. You must memorize the gender with each new noun.

le livre (the book — masculine), la table (the table — feminine)

Tip: Always learn the article WITH the noun. Don’t memorize "chat" — memorize "le chat." That’s exactly what Vidi helps you do: every card stores the article alongside the word.

Definite Articles

Definite articles are used for specific nouns ("the"). French has four forms depending on gender, number, and whether the next word starts with a vowel. Definite articles are also used for general concepts and preferences, which is different from English: "J’aime le chocolat" means "I like chocolate (in general)."

	Masculine	Feminine	Before Vowel/Silent H	Plural
Article	le	la	l’	les
Example	le chat	la maison	l’école	les enfants
Translation	the cat	the house	the school	the children

J’aime le chocolat. La France est belle. L’école commence à huit heures.I like chocolate. France is beautiful. School starts at eight.

Tip: Use definite articles for: specific things (le livre sur la table), general concepts (j’aime la musique), countries (la France, le Japon), and languages (le français).

Indefinite Articles

Indefinite articles mean "a," "an," or "some." They change based on gender and number.

	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
Article	un	une	des
Example	un livre	une pomme	des amis
Translation	a book	an apple	some friends

J’ai un frère et une sœur. J’ai des amis à Paris.I have a brother and a sister. I have (some) friends in Paris.

Tip: In negative sentences, un/une/des all become de (or d’ before a vowel): J’ai des amis → Je n’ai pas d’amis. J’ai un chat → Je n’ai pas de chat.

Partitive Articles (du / de la / des)

Partitive articles express "some" or an unspecified quantity of something — especially with uncountable nouns like food, drink, and abstract concepts. English often omits the article entirely, but French always requires one.

	Masculine	Feminine	Before Vowel/Silent H	Plural
Article	du	de la	de l’	des
Example	du café	de la salade	de l’eau	des légumes
Translation	(some) coffee	(some) salad	(some) water	(some) vegetables

Je bois du café. Je mange de la salade. Il boit de l’eau.I drink (some) coffee. I eat (some) salad. He drinks (some) water.

Tip: Just like indefinite articles, partitives become de/d’ in negative sentences: Je bois du café → Je ne bois pas de café. Think of de as a "zero article" in negatives.

Gender Patterns

While gender must ultimately be memorized, common word endings strongly predict whether a noun is masculine or feminine. Learning these patterns gives you a head start with new vocabulary.

Ending	Gender	Example
-tion, -sion	feminine	la nation, la télévision
-ment	masculine	le moment, le gouvernement
-eur	usually masculine	le docteur, le moteur
-euse	feminine	la chanteuse, la danseuse
-age	usually masculine	le voyage, le fromage
-ée	usually feminine	la journée, la pensée
-ence, -ance	feminine	la patience, la France
-eau	masculine	le chapeau, le bateau

Tip: These patterns cover a huge number of nouns. The biggest one: almost every word ending in -tion is feminine (la situation, la question, la conversation). Always learn the article WITH the noun — that’s the most reliable strategy.

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📖 French Articles & Noun Gender

Two Genders

Definite Articles

Indefinite Articles

Partitive Articles (du / de la / des)

Gender Patterns

Practice with Interactive Quizzes

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