Comparative Grammar 1.3. Gender & Plural in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French, we study the general rules of gender and plural in each language. Each noun and adjective in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French has a gender. Nouns and adjectives have only two genders: masculine and feminine. There is no neuter gender. Throughout the lessons, we use the superscripts ^m and ^f to refer to masculine and feminine genders, respectively.

The adjective follows the noun it describes in gender and number. The only certain way to determine the gender of a noun is by looking it up in a dictionary. Nevertheless, there are some general rules that can help you be right most of the time. Remember, however, that these are general rules, and there are many exceptions.

Table of Contents

• Gender & Plural in Spanish
  • 1. Gender of a Nouns & Adjectives in Spanish
  • 2. Forming the Plural in Spanish
• Gender & Plural in Portuguese
  • 1. Gender of a Noun in Portuguese
  • 2. Gender of an Adjective in Portuguese
  • 3. Forming the Plural of a Noun or Adjective in Portuguese
• Gender & Plural in Italian
• Gender & Plural in French
  • 1. Gender of a Noun in French
  • 2. Gender of an Adjective in French
  • 3. Forming the Plural of a Noun or Adjective in French
• Level I – Basic

Gender & Plural in Spanish

Let us discuss some general rules to determine the gender of a noun or adjective in Spanish. We will also cover forming the plural in Spanish.

1. Gender of a Nouns & Adjectives in Spanish

There are general rules that help determine the gender of a noun or adjective in Spanish. However, there remain many exceptions that can only be learned by practice.

As a very loose and general rule, words ending in “o” are likely to be masculine, and most words ending in “a” are likely to be feminine. However, this rule—if it is even reasonable to consider it a rule—has many exceptions. Thus, we will have sub-rules that are more specific.

• Most words ending in “-a” are feminine. The following are some exceptions:
• Words that end in “-ma,” “-pa,” or “-ta” and originate from Greek. These are masculine. Examples are: “el idioma” (language), “el problema” (problem), “el sistema” (system), “el clima” (climate), “el tema” (topic), “el diploma” (diploma), “el drama” (drama), “el dilema” (dilemma), “el diagrama” (diagram), “el mapa” (map), “el planeta” (planet), “el cometa” (comet), etc. This exception does not apply to words that did not originate from Greek, such as “la forma” (form) and “la plataforma” (platform).
• Words that end in “-ista” and refer to masculine or feminine people performing a profession, such as: “el taxista” (taxi driver), “el artista” (artist), “el analista” (analyst), “el pianista” (pianist), etc.
• Words that end in “-a” and refer to professions with the same masculine and feminine forms. For example, “atleta” can refer to a male or female “athlete,” and “espía” can refer to a male or female “spy.”
• A few other words that are learned by practice, such as “el día” (day), “el Buda” (Buddha), and “el panda” (panda).
• Most words ending in “-d,” “-z,” and “-ión” are feminine. For example, “la ciudad” (city), “la escasez” (shortage), “la religión” (religion), etc. The following are some exceptions:
• Some masculine words with a “-d” ending are: “el huésped” (guest), “el césped” (grass), “el récord” (record), “el ataúd” (coffin), “el abad” (abbot), “el milord” (milord), and “el lord” (lord).
• Some masculine words with a “-z” ending are: “el aprendiz” (apprentice), “el pez” (fish), “el arroz” (rice), “el lápiz” (pencil), “el ajedrez” (chess), “el antifaz” (mask), “el maíz” (corn), “el disfraz” (costume), “el haz” (beam), “el albornoz” (bathrobe), and “el altavoz” (speaker).
• Some masculine words with “-ión” ending are: “el avión” (plane), “el camión” (truck), and “el embrión” (embryo).
• Most words ending in “-o” are masculine, with a few exceptions that are feminine, such as: “la mano” (hand), “la radio^[1]” (radio), “la foto” (photo), “la moto” (motorcycle), and “la libido” (libido), in addition to words that end with “-o” used to refer to professions that have the same masculine and feminine forms, e.g., “piloto” can refer to a male or female pilot, where “el piloto” is masculine and “la piloto” is feminine.
• Words ending with an accented vowel (á, é, í, ó, ú) are generally masculine. For example, “el maní” (peanut), “el ají” (chili pepper), “el ñandú” (rhea), “el colibrí” (hummingbird), “el bambú” (bamboo), etc.
• Most words ending with a consonant other than “d” or “z” are masculine, with some exceptions, such as: “la miel” (honey), “la piel” (skin), “la sal” (salt), “la hiel” (gall), “la flor” (flower), “la coliflor” (cauliflower), and “la labor” (labor).
• Words ending with “-e” tend to be masculine, especially those ending in “-aje” or “-ambre,” but with a lot of exceptions that are feminine, such as: “la calle” (street), “la carne” (meat), “la gente” (people), “la llave” (key), “la fiebre” (fever), “la noche” (night), “la nube” (cloud), “la sangre” (blood), “la suerte” (luck), “la tarde” (afternoon or evening), “la fuente” (source or fountain), “la torre” (tower), “la sede” (headquarters), “la serpiente” (snake), “la corriente” (current), “la clave” (key code), “la clase” (class), “la base” (base), “la madre” (mother), “la muerte” (death), “la nieve” (snow), and “la frase” (phrase).

[1] According to the Real Academia Española (RAE), the word “radio” is feminine when referring to the broadcast or programming of the radio. For example, “Lo escuché en la radio” (I heard it on the radio). When referring to the radio set or device, the word “radio” is feminine in Spain and the southern cone of South America, but masculine in most of the rest of Latin America.

Although not a universal rule, many feminine words can be formed from masculine words that end with a consonant by adding an “a” at the end, e.g., “jugador” (player) (feminine “jugadora”), “juez” (judge) (feminine “jueza”), and from masculine words that end with an “o” by replacing the last “o” with an “a,” e.g., “ingeniero” (engineer) (feminine “ingeniera”), “alto” (tall) (feminine “alta”). As we shall see, there are exceptions, as some words deviate from this simple rule to form the feminine. In addition, there are many words that do not change form based on gender. For example, “artista” (artist), “piloto” (pilot), and “estudiante” (student) all have the same form in both masculine and feminine.

2. Forming the Plural in Spanish

Forming the plural in Spanish is similar to forming a regular plural in English. To form the plural, the letter “s” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a vowel^[2], e.g., “casa” (house), “casas” (houses), and “es” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a consonant, e.g., “mujer” (woman), “mujeres” (women). Notice that Spanish adjectives can also be plural, e.g., “mujeres jóvenes” (young women). We will encounter some minor orthographic changes in the plural form of some words, but the vast majority are regular.

[2] Although the letter “y” at the end of a word is considered a vowel, the “es” ending is used to form the plural in such words. For example, “rey” (king) (plural “reyes”).

Gender & Plural in Portuguese

Here, we discuss the general rules to determine the gender of a noun or adjective in Portuguese. We will also cover forming the plural in Portuguese.

1. Gender of a Noun in Portuguese

As a general rule, most nouns ending in “-o” are masculine, whereas most nouns ending in “-a” are feminine. However, there are some exceptions that we must be aware of. For example, the nouns “mão” (hand) and “tribo” (tribe) are feminine despite their “-o” ending. Likewise, the nouns “dia” (day) and “sofá” (sofa) are masculine even though they end with “-a.”

In addition, nouns with “-l,” “-r,” or “-z” ending are generally masculine. Many nouns with “-ma” and “-pa” ending are masculine despite their “-a” ending. On the other hand, nouns with “-gem” or “-dade” ending are often feminine.

To summarize:

Gender	Ending	Examples
masculine	–o	livro (book), número (number), tio (uncle)
	–ma, –pa	clima (climate), poema (poem), mapa (map)
	–l,-r, –z	papel (paper), lugar (place), arroz (rice)
feminine	–a	mesa (table), bola (ball), tia (aunt)
	–gem	imagem (image), origem (origin), viagem (travel)
	–dade	cidade (city), qualidade (quality), verdade (truth)

Notice that many words that end in “-ma” or “-pa” and originate from Greek are masculine, for example:

problemam	problem	dramam	drama
sistemam	system	dilemam	dilemma
temam	topic or theme	diagramam	diagram
diplomam	diploma	poemam	poem
climam	climate	mapam	map

However, this does not apply to words that do not originate from Greek, such as “forma” (form) and “plataforma” (platform), which are feminine.

Nouns with “-e” (except “-dade”) or “-ão” ending can be either masculine or feminine. As a general rule, nouns in this category tend to be masculine if they refer to concrete things, and feminine if they refer to abstract concepts. Here are some examples:

Ending	Gender	Examples
–e	masculine	leite (milk), sanduíche (sandwich), recipiente (container)
	feminine	crise (crisis), noite (night), sorte (luck), corrente (current)
-ão	masculine	pão (bread), coração (heart), limão (lemon)
	feminine	paixão (passion), exceção (exception), missão (mission)

Some words have a different meaning when used in the masculine form versus when used in the feminine form. For example:

caram	guy	caraf	face
capitalm	capital (money)	capitalf	capital (city)
gramam	gram (unit)	gramaf	grass
rádiom	radio set or radium	rádiof	radio station

Some nouns that refer to people can be masculine or feminine. The most common pattern to form the feminine noun from a masculine noun is to replace the final “-o” with “-a.” For example:

médicom	doctor	médicaf	doctor
engenheirom	engineer	engenheiraf	engineer

Nevertheless, this is not the only gender pattern in Portuguese. Other patterns include:

Masculine	Feminine	Example
–or	–ora	pintor > pintora (painter) professor > professora (teacher)
	–triz	ator > atriz (actor/actress) emperador > emperatriz (emperor/empress)
	–eira	lavrador > lavradeira (farmer)
–ês	–esa	inglês > inglesa (English man/woman)
–ão	–ã	irmão > irmã (brother/sister)
	–oa	leão > leoa (lion/lioness)
	–ona	sabichão > sabichona (know-all person)

Most nouns that end in “-ista” can refer to masculine or feminine people performing a role or profession. For example:

dentistam,f	dentist	analistam,f	analyst
artistam,f	artist	pianistam,f	pianist

Similarly, some nouns ending in “-e” can also refer to both male and female in some occupations. For example:

gerentem,f

manager

estudantem,f

student

Others have only one form (masculine or feminine) regardless of the gender of the person that the noun refers to. For example:

peessoaf	person	vítimaf	victim
cônjugem	spouse	criançaf	child

In general, most countries ending with “-a” (but not “á” or “ã”) are feminine, e.g., “Italia^f” (Italy). For example:

Turquiaf	Turkey	Rússiaf	Russia
Colômbiaf	Colombia	Françaf	France
Italiaf	Italy	Alemanhaf	Germany

Most other countries are masculine. Here are some examples:

Japãom	Japan	Irãm	Iran
Canadám	Canada	Portugalm	Portugal

Notice that most countries are often preceded by a definite article, while only a few cannot be used by a definite article, such as:

Portugalm	Portugal	Marrocosm	Morocco
Cubam	Cuba	Moçambiquem	Mozambique

Some countries are always in plural form, such as:

Estados Unidosm	United States	Países Baixosm	Netherlands
Filipinasf	Philippines	Bahamasf	Bahamas

2. Gender of an Adjective in Portuguese

Adjectives in Portuguese, unlike in English, come after the noun they describe, for example, “prédio histórico” (historic building). There are some exceptions to this rule, for example, “grande cidade” (big or great city). Many adjectives that come before the noun are indefinite adjectives, which will be covered in Level III, Lesson 4.

Many masculine adjectives in Portuguese end in “-o.” The feminine form of most masculine adjectives ending in “-o” is often obtained by changing the final “-o” to “-a,” e.g., “lindo/linda” (beautiful), “alto/alta” (high or tall), “velho/velha” (old), etc.

Generally, most masculine adjectives ending in “-or,” “-ês,” or “-u” form the feminine form by simply adding an “-a” to the end of the word. For example:

interior	trabalhadorm	trabalhadoraf
Chinese	chinêsm	chinesaf
naked	num	nuaf

However, there are some exceptions that follow different patterns. The following are the most common irregular patterns:

1. Adjectives ending in “-ão”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in “-ão” is often obtained by changing the final “-ão” to “-ã,” or in some few words to “-ona”:

German	alemãom	alemãf
sane/healthy	sãom	sãf
playful	brincalhãom	brincalhonaf

2. Some adjectives ending in “-or”

The feminine form of some masculine adjectives ending in “-or” remains unchanged:

interior	interiorm	interiorf
exterior	exteriorm	exteriorf
better	melhorm	melhorf
worse	piorm	piorf
superior	superiorm	superiorf
bigger	maiorm	maiorf
smaller	menorm	menorf

3. Some adjectives ending in “-eu”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in “-eu” is often obtained by changing the final “-eu” to “-eia”:

European	europeum	europeiaf
Hebrew	hebreum	hebreiaf

One exception is:

Jewish

judeum

judiaf

4. Adjectives ending in “-a,” “-e,” “-l,” “-m,” “-s,” “-z,” or “-ar”

The feminine form of most masculine adjectives that end with “-a,” “-e,” “-l,” “-m,” “-s,” “-z,” or “-ar” remains unchanged:

optimist	otimistam	otimistaf
idiot	idiotam	idiotaf
strong	fortem	fortef
sad	tristem	tristef
cruel	cruelm	cruelf
possible	possívelm	possívelf
common	comumm	comumf
young	jovemm	jovemf
simple	simplesm	simplesf
vulgar	relesm	relesf
happy	felizm	felizf
fast	velozm	velozf
regular	regularm	regularf
similar	similarm	similarf

5. Finally, there are some irregular adjectives that do not follow any pattern and must simply be memorized, such as:

good	bomm	boaf
bad	maum	máf

3. Forming the Plural of a Noun or Adjective in Portuguese

More often than not, forming the plural of a noun in Portuguese resembles the English common way of adding an “-s” or “-es” at the end of a word. However, some nouns do not follow this simple pattern. Here, we will examine the different rules and patterns of forming the plural in Portuguese.

Adjectives in Portuguese must also agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

To form the plural in Portuguese, there are six main patterns:

1. Nouns and adjectives ending in a vowel

Most nouns and adjectives ending in a vowel add a final “-s” to form the plural. For example:

braçom	arm	braçosm	arms
mesaf	table	mesasf	tables
carosm	expensive	carosm	expensive

2. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-s”

Most nouns and adjectives ending in “-s” that are stressed on the last syllable or has a single syllable form the plural by adding a final “-es.” For example:

paísm	country	paísesm	countries
inglêsm	English	inglesesm	English
mêsm	month	mesesm	months

Most other nouns and adjectives ending in “-s,” i.e., multi-syllable words stressed on any syllable but the last, do not change form in the plural. Here are some examples:

ônibusm	bus	ônibusm	buses
lápism	pencil	lápism	pencils
simplesm,f	simple	simplesm,f	simple

3. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-r” “-z,” or “-n”

Most nouns and adjectives ending in “-r” “-z,” or “-n” add a final “-es” to form the plural. For example:

professorm	teacher	professoresm	teachers
vozf	voice	vozesf	voices
capazm,f	capable	capazesm,f	capable
líquenm	lichen	líquenesm	lichens

4. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-m”

Most nouns and adjectives ending in “-m” change the final “-m” to “-n” and add a final “-s” to form the plural. For example:

somm	sound	sonsm	sounds
nuvemf	cloud	nuvensf	clouds
ruimm,f	bad	ruinsm,f	bad

5. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-ão”

Most nouns and adjectives ending in “-ão” change the final ending to “-ões” to form the plural. For example:

coraçãom	heart	coraçõesm	hearts
razãof	reason	razõesf	reasons
decisãof	decision	decisõesf	decisions

However, there are some exceptions:

a) Some words, especially ones that are stressed on the second-last syllable, simply add an “-s” to the final “-ão” to form the plural. For example:

órfãom	orphan	órfãosm	orphans
órgãom	organ	órgãosm	organs
mãof	hand	mãosf	hands
irmãom	brother	irmãosm	brothers

b) Some words change the final “-ão” to “-ães” to form the plural. For example:

alemãom	German	alemãesm	Germans
cãom	dog	cãesm	dogs
pãom	bread	pãesm	bread (loaves)
capitãom	captain	capitãesm	captains

6. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-l”

a) Nouns and adjectives ending in “-al,” “-el,” “-ol,” and “-ul” form the plural by changing their ending into “-ais,” “-eis,” “-ois,” and “-uis,” respectively. For example:

animalm	animal	animaism	animal
papelm	paper	papéism	papers
solm	sun	sóism	suns
azulm,f	blue	azuism,f	blues

Notice that if last syllable is stressed, an acute accent is needed on the letter before the final “-is” in the plural.

b) Nouns and adjectives ending in “-il” form the plural by changing the final ending into “-is” if the last syllable is stressed, or “-eis” if the stress falls on a different syllable. For example:

funilm	funnel	funism	funnels
sutilm,f	subtle	sutism,f	subtle
fóssilm	fossil	fósseism	fossils
réptilm	reptile	répteism	reptiles

c) Few words deviate from the above two rules and form the plural differently:

cônsulm	consul	cônsulesm	consuls
golm	goal	golsm	goals
malm	evil	malesm	evils

To summarize:

Singular Ending	Plural Ending	Example
vowel	–s	mesa (table) > mesas (tables)
–s	–	lápis (pencil) > lápis (pencils)
	–es	país (country) > países (tables)
–r,-z,-n	–es	voz (voice) > vozes (voices)
–m	–ns	som (sound) > sons (sounds)
–ão	–ões	razão (reason) > razões (reasons)
	–ãos	mão (hand) > mãos (hands)
	–ães	cão (dog) > cães (dogs)
–l	–al > –ais	animal (animal) > animais (animals)
	–el > –eis	hotel (hotel) > hotéis (hotels)
	–ol > –ois	sol (sun) > sóis (suns)
	–ul > –uis	azul (blue) > azuis (blue)
	–il > –is (stressed) –il > –eis (unstressed)	funil (funnel) > funis (funnels) réptil (reptile) > répteis (reptiles)

Gender & Plural in Italian

The vast majority of Italian words end in a vowel. This is part of the reason spoken Italian has a melodic recognizable tone.

This rule, however, is not universal. Not all Italian words end with a vowel, e.g., “il” (the), “con” (with), “in” (in). In addition, there are many foreign words that have made inroads into the Italian life and dictionary such as “sport” and “Internet.”

The vowel at the end of the word often identifies the gender and number of a noun or adjective. Many masculine nouns and adjectives in Italian end with “-o” in singular and “-i” in plural. On the other hand, many feminine nouns and adjectives end with “-a” in singular and “-e” in plural.

Furthermore, some Italian words end in “-e” in their singular form, and it can be hard to tell if they are masculine or feminine. To form the plural, the final “e” is changed to “i,” regardless of the gender of the word.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	-o	-i
Masculine or Feminine	-e
Feminine	-a	-e

Notably, the word “gente” (people) in Italian, unlike in English, is singular. For example, “La gente va e viene” (people come and go). There are words that are only used in plural form such as “baffi^m” (mustache), “forbici^f” (scissors), “occhiali^m” (glasses), and “pantaloni^m” (pants).

Adjectives in Italian, unlike in English, come after the noun they describe, for example, “edificio alto” (tall building). There are some exceptions to this rule, for example, “grande^[3] città” (big or great city). Many adjectives that come before the noun are indefinite adjectives, which will be covered in Level III, Lesson 4.

[3] If the adjective “grande” is placed after the noun, it means “big” or “large.” For example, “una città grande” (a big city). On the other hand, if it is placed before the noun, it can also mean “great.” For example, “una grande città” (a great city), “una grande amica” (a great friend), etc.

Let us summarize some important rules in the context of examples:

• Words ending in “-o” are generally masculine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “o” to “i.” For example:

librom	book	librim	books
gattom	cat	gattim	cats
telefonom	phone	telefonim	phones
ziom	uncle	ziim	uncles

There are only a few exceptions of words ending in “-o” that are feminine, such as: “mano” (hand), “radio” (radio), “libido” (libido), “foto” (photo), “auto” (car), and “moto” (motorcycle).

• Words ending in “-a” are generally feminine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “a” to “e.” For example:

casaf	house	casef	houses
camiciaf	shirt	camicief	shirts
sediaf	chair	sedief	chairs
ziaf	aunt	zief	aunts

There are some exceptions such as:

1. Words that end in “-ma” or “-ta” and originate from Greek These are masculine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “a” to “i.” For example:

problemam	problem	problemim	problems
sistemam	system	sistemim	systems
climam	climate	climim	climates
temam	topic	temim	topics
diplomam	diploma	diplomim	diplomas
drammam	drama	drammim	dramas
dilemmam	dilemma	dilemmim	dilemmas
diagrammam	diagram	diagrammim	diagrams
pianetam	planet	pianetim	planets
poetam	poet	poetim	poets

This exception does not apply to words that did not originate from Greek, such as “forma^f” (form) and “piattaforma^f” (platform), whose plurals are “forme^f” and “piattaforme^f,” respectively.

• Words that end in “-ista” and refer to masculine or feminine people performing a profession, such as:

tassistam,f	taxi driver	tassistim tassistef	taxi drivers
artistam,f	artist	artistim artistef	artists
analistam,f	analyst	analistim analistef	analysts
pianistam,f	pianist	pianistim pianistef	pianists

The feminine form is used for groups that consist exclusively of feminine-gender members. Even if one masculine-gender member of that group exists, we must use the masculine form.

• Words ending in “-e” can be masculine or feminine, and the plural is formed by changing the final “e” to “i.” For example:

colorem	color	colorim	colors
madref	mother	madrif	mothers
padrem	father	padrim	fathers
chiavef	key	chiavif	keys

It can be difficult to determine if a noun ending with “-e” is masculine or feminine and a dictionary is often needed. Most nouns ending in “-ice” are feminine. They are often the feminine forms of masculine nouns ending in “-ore.”

attorem attricef	actor actress	attorim attricif	actors actresses
autorem autricef	author	autorim autricif	authors
direttorem direttricef	director	direttorim direttricif	directors
imperatorem imperatricef	emperor empress	imperatorim imperatricif	emperors empresses
pittorem pittricef	painter	pittorim pittricif	painters
scrittorem scrittricem	writer	scrittorim scrittricim	writers

In general, most nouns ending with “-ione” are feminine, and most nouns ending in “-one,” but not “-ione,” are masculine. For example:

nazionef	nation	nazionif	nations
televisionef	television	televisionif	televisions
opinionef	opinion	opinionif	opinions
cordonem	rope	cordonim	ropes
mattonem	brick	mattonim	bricks
pallonem	ball	pallonim	balls

However, there are few exceptions, such as “copione” (script) which is masculine.

• Although the most common gender pattern is a feminine noun with an “-a” ending that corresponds to a masculine noun with an “-o” ending, this is not the only gender pattern in Italian.

We have encountered masculine nouns ending in “-ore” whose feminine forms end in “-ice.” For example, “autore^m” and “autrice^f,” meaning “author.” Another irregular but common feminine form is using the ending “-essa.” This is common with some masculine nouns ending in “-ore,” “-ante,” “-ente,” “-eta,” and “-one.” For example:

professorem professoressaf	professor	professorim professoressef	professors
presidentem presidentessaf	president	presidentim presidentessef	presidents
poetam poetessaf	poet	poetim poetessef	poets
leonem leonessaf	lion lioness	leonim leonessef	lions lionesses

Some nouns ending in “-e” in masculine have an “-a” ending in their feminine forms. For example:

camerierem camerieraf	waiter waitress	camerierim camerieref	waiters waitresses
infermierem infermieraf	nurse	infermierim infermieref	nurses

Some nouns do not change form in masculine or feminine. For example:

cantantem,f	singer	cantantim,f	singers
francesem,f	French	francesim,f	French (plural)
inglesem,f	English	inglesim,f	English (plural)

Finally, there are other nouns that do not follow any pattern. For example, the feminine form of “dio” (god) is “dea” (goddess).

• Words under the following categories have the same singular and plural forms:
• Foreign words used in Italian. Most such words are masculine. For example:

filmm	film	filmm	films
barm	bar	barm	bars
sportm	sport	sportm	sports
taxim	taxi	taxim	taxis
autobusm	bus	autobusm	buses
rem	king	rem	kings
grum	crane	grum	cranes
hotelm	hotel	hotelm	hotels

• Most words ending in an accented vowel. For example:

cittàf	city	cittàf	cities
caffèm	coffee	caffèm	coffees
universitàf	university	universitàf	universities
tribùf	tribe	tribùf	tribes
virtùf	virtue	virtùf	virtues

• Words that end in “-si.” Most such words are feminine. For example:

crisif	crisis	crisif	crises
analisif	analysis	analisif	analyses

• Feminine words that end in “-o,” except “mano^f” (hand), whose plural is “mani^f.” For example:

radiof	radio	radiof	radios
autof	car	autof	cars
fotof	photo	fotof	photos
motof	motorcycle	motof	motorbikes

Notice that the nouns “auto,” “foto,” and “moto” are short forms of the feminine nouns “automobile^f,” “fotografia^f,” and “motocicletta^f,” respectively.

• There are a few words that are masculine in singular form and feminine in plural form. For example:

bracciom	arm	bracciaf	arms
ditom	finger	ditaf	fingers
ginocchiom	knee	ginocchiaf	knees
labbrom	lip	labbraf	lips
uovom	egg	uovaf	eggs

• Some words undergo spelling changes to form the plural. These often fall under one of these categories:
• Words with “-co/-ca” and “-go/-ga” endings often add “h” to form plurals with “-chi/-che” or “-ghi/-ghe” endings, especially if the “-co/-ca” or “-go/-ga” is not preceded by “e” or “i.” For example:

giocom	game	giochim	games
parcom	park	parchim	parks
albergom	hotel	alberghim	hotels
lagom	lake	laghim	lakes

Notice that the purpose of these changes is to maintain the desired soft or hard pronunciation of the “c” or “g.”

If an “e” or “i” precedes the “-co/-ca” or “-go/-ga,” the masculine plural form often ends in “-ci” or “-gi,” leading to change in the “c” or “g” pronunciation from hard to soft sound. For example:

amicom amicaf	friend	amicim amichef	friends
grecom grecaf	Greek	grecim grechef	Greeks
biologom biologaf	biologist	biologim biologhef	biologists
psicologom psicologaf	psychologist	psicologim psicologhef	psychologists

Notice that this exception applies only to the masculine form, whereas the feminine form still adds an “h” in the plural.

In general, the suffixes “-logo” and “-loga,” referring to a profession in singular, change to “-logi” and “-loghe,” respectively, in plural.

Finally, there are a few words, mostly masculine, that do not follow the aforementioned rules. For example:

porcom	pig	porcim	pigs
ficom	fig	fichim	figs
sindacom	mayor	sindacim	mayors
monacom	monk	monacim	monks

• Words with “-cia” and “-gia” endings often remove the “i” to form plurals with “-ce” and “-ge” endings, if the “-cia” or “-gia” ending is preceded by a consonant. For example:

aranciaf	orange	arancef	oranges
facciaf	face	faccef	faces
spiaggiaf	beach	spiaggef	beaches

If the “-cia” or “-gia” ending is preceded by a vowel, the regular plural is formed with “-cie” or “-gie” ending. For example:

camiciaf	shirt	camicief	shirts
ciliegiaf	cherry	ciliegief	cherries
valigiaf	suitcase	valigief	suitcases

• Words with the the “-io” ending remove the final “o” to form plurals with the “-i” ending. For example:

figliom	son	figlim	sons
occhiom	eye	occhim	eyes
orologiom	clock/watch	orologim	clocks/watches

If the “i” in the final “-io” is in the stressed syllable of the word, the plural is formed with the “-ii” ending. For example:

inviom	dispatch	inviim	dispatches
ziom	uncle	ziim	uncles

• Some words have completely irregular plurals. For example:

uomom	man	uominim	men
diom	god	dèim	gods
buem	ox	buoim	oxen
alaf	wing	alif	wings
armaf	weapon	armif	weapons
tempiom	temple	templim	temples

• Some words have a different meaning when used as masculine versus when used as feminine. For example:

postom	place	postaf	mail
modom	way	modaf	fashion
capitalem	capital (money)	capitalef	capital (city)

Gender & Plural in French

Finally, we cover how to determine the gender of a noun or adjective in French. We will also cover forming the plural.

1. Gender of a Noun in French

On general rule is that a noun that ends with “-e” or “-ion” is likely feminine, except for nouns ending in “-ge” or “-isme,” which are likely masculine even though they end with “-e.” Any other noun in French that does not end with “-e” is likely, but not certainly, masculine.

Of course, there will be some obvious masculine and feminine nouns. For instance, we know that “homme” (man) and “prince” (prince) are masculine regardless of the above rule.

Let us look at some examples of nouns that follow the general rule as well as some exceptions:

Gender	Ending	Nouns that follow the rule	Exceptions
feminine	-e	couverture (blanket), fenêtre (window), plante (plant)	spectacle (spectacle), stade (stadium), silence (silence), incendie (fire)
	-ion	destination (destination), nation (nation), production (production)	avion (plane), camion (truck)
masculine	-ge	âge (age), garage (garage), nuage (cloud), stage (internship), orage (thunderstorm), village (village), siège (seat), piège (trap), liège (cork), collège (college)	cage (cage), page (page), plage (beach), image (image), rage (rage)
	-isme	cyclisme (cycling), prisme, schisme, tourisme (tourism)	–
masculine	Other	bureau (office), papier (paper), journal (newspaper), bras (arm), changement (change), lit (bed)	eau (water), peau (skin), souris (mouse)

Some words have a different meaning when used in the masculine form versus when used in the feminine form. For example:

livrem	book	livref	pound
modem	mode, way or method	modef	fashion
capitalem	capital (money)	capitalef	capital (city)
tourm	tour	tourf	tower
mémoirem	report	mémoiref	memory
postem	job	postef	post office
vasem	vase	vasef	mud

Notice that many words that end in “-me” and originate from Greek are masculine, for example:

problèmem	problem	dramem	drama
systèmem	system	dilemmem	dilemma
thèmem	topic or theme	diagrammem	diagram
diplômem	diploma	poèmem	poem

This exception does not apply to words that do not originate from Greek, such as “forme” (form) and “plateforme” (platform), which are feminine.

In addition, there are many foreign nouns that have made inroads into the French life and dictionary such as “sport” and “Internet.” In general, most of these nouns are masculine.

Some nouns that refer to people can be masculine or feminine. The most common pattern to form the feminine noun from a masculine noun is to add an “e” at the end. For example:

étudiantm	student	étudiantef	student
ingénieurm	engineer	ingénieuref	engineer

Nouns that end with a vowel followed by “n” or “t” often double the last consonant and add an “e” at the end. For example:

lionm	lion	lionnef	lioness
chatm	cat	chattef	cat

Nevertheless, this is not the only gender pattern in French. Other patterns include:

-teur/-trice	actor/actress	acteurm	actricef
	director	directeurm	directricef
-eur/-euse	hair dresser	coiffeurm	coiffeusef
	waiter/waitress	serveurm	serveusef
-e/-esse	poet	poètem	poétessef
	host/hostess	hôtem	hôtessef

Most nouns that end in “-iste,” “-yste,” or “-naire” can refer to masculine or feminine people performing a role or profession. For example:

dentistem,f	dentist	analystem,f	analyst
artistem,f	artist	pianistem,f	pianist
vétérinairem,f	veterinary	partenairem,f	partner
millionairem,f	millionaire	révolutionnairem,f	revolutionary

Others may only have one form (masculine or feminine) regardless of the gender of the person that the noun refers to. For example:

personnef	person	victimef	victim
professeurm	teacher	médecinm	doctor
écrivainm	writer	jugem	judge

It is also commonly acceptable to add the word “femme” (woman) to describe a female with a non-form changing masculine noun. For example, “une femme médecin” (a female doctor).

In general, most countries ending with “-e” are feminine, e.g., “la France” (France). Exceptionally, the following six countries end with “-e” but are masculine:

Mexiquem	Mexico	Belizem	Belize
Cambodgem	Cambodia	Mozambiquem	Mozambique
Zimbabwem	Zimbabwe	Surinamem	Surinam

Most other countries that do not end in “-e” are masculine. Here are some examples:

Marocm	Morocco	Iranm	Iran
Canadam	Canada	Portugalm	Portugal

Notice that most countries are often preceded by a definite article, while only a few cannot be used by a definite article, such as:

Bahreïnm	Bahrain	Chypref	Cyprus
Singapourm	Singapore	Haïtim	Haiti
Cubam	Cuba	Sri Lankam	Sri Lanka
Maltef	Malta	Monacom	Monaco

Some countries are always in plural form, such as:

États-Unism	United States	Pays-Basm	Netherlands
Philippinesf	Philippines	Bahamasm	Bahamas

2. Gender of an Adjective in French

Adjectives in French, unlike in English, come after the noun they describe, for example, “bâtiment historique” (historic building). There are some exceptions to this rule, for example, “grande ville” (big or great city). Many adjectives that come before the noun are indefinite adjectives, which will be covered in Level III, Lesson 4.

Most adjectives form the feminine singular by adding a final “-e” to the masculine singular form. However, there are many exceptions that follow different patterns. The following are the most common patterns:

1. Adjectives ending in “-eux”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in “-eux” is often obtained by changing the final “-eux” to “-euse”:

happy	heureuxm	heureusef
joyful	joyeuxm	joyeusef
serious	sérieuxm	sérieusef
curious	curieuxm	curieusef
nervous	nerveuxm	nerveusef
religious	religieuxm	religieusef

2. Adjectives ending in “-é”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in “-é” is often obtained by adding an extra “-e”:

tired	fatiguém	fatiguéef
busy	occupém	occupéef
complicated	compliquém	compliquéef
salty	salém	saléef

3. Adjectives ending in a silent “-e”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in a silent “-e” is the same, for example:

clean	proprem	propref
comfortable	confortablem	confortablef
dirty	salem	salef
easy	facilem	facilef
empty	videm	videf
funny	drôlem	drôlef
honest	honnêtem	honnêtef
poor	pauvrem	pauvref
pleasant	aimablem	aimablef
sad	tristem	tristef
weak	faiblem	faiblef

4. Adjectives ending in “-f”

The feminine form of masculine adjectives ending in “-f” is often obtained by changing the final “-f” to “-ve”:

active	actifm	activef
attractive	attractifm	attractivef
decisive	décisifm	décisivef
positive	positifm	positivef
negative	négatifm	négativef
widower/widow	veufm	veuvef

5. Adjectives ending in a consonant “l,” “n,” or “s”

The feminine form of many masculine adjectives ending in the consonant “l,” “n,” or “s” is obtained by adding an “-e” to the end of the word and doubling the consonant before the final “-e”:

cruel	cruelm	cruellef
European	européenm	européennef
fat	grosm	grossef
former, old, or ancient	ancienm	anciennef
good	bonm	bonnef
kind or nice	gentilm	gentillef
low	basm	bassef

Finally, there are some irregular adjectives that do not follow any pattern and must simply be memorized. Here are some examples:

beautiful	beaum	bellef
dry	secm	sechef
false	fauxm	faussef
favorite	favorim	favoritef
frank	francm	franchef
fresh	fraism	fraîchef
long	longm	longuef
new	nouveaum	nouvellef
old	vieuxm	vieillef
public	publicm	publiquef
soft/sweet	douxm	doucef
white	blancm	blanchef

Among the above irregular adjectives, there are three adjectives that change form only if they come before a masculine noun that starts with a vowel or mute “h.” The three adjectives are: “beau” (beautiful), “nouveau” (new), and “vieux” (old). Here are some examples:

beaum (beautiful)	beau pays (beautiful country)	bel animal (beautiful animal)
nouveaum (new)	nouveau livre (new book)	nouvel ami (new friend)
vieuxm (old)	vieux port (old port)	vieil homme (old man)

If the noun is feminine or the adjective is placed after the noun, the change of form is not applied even if the noun starts with a vowel or a mute “h.” For example, “Cet animal est beau” (This animal is beautiful), “nouvelle année” (new year), etc.

3. Forming the Plural of a Noun or Adjective in French

Forming the plural of a singular noun or adjective is often straightforward and resembles the English common way of adding an “-s” at the end of a word. Here are some examples:

livrem	book	livresm	books
chatm	cat	chatsm	cats
téléphonem	phone	téléphonesm	phones
ballef	ball	ballesf	balls
maisonf	house	maisonsf	houses

However, there are four main categories of nouns that do not follow the above simple rule to form the plural:

1. Nouns ending in “-s,” “-x,” or “-z”

The majority of nouns under this category do not change form in the plural, for example:

brasm	arm	brasm	arms
choixf	choice	choixf	choices
gazm	gas	gazm	gasses

2. Nouns ending in “-au” or “-eu”

Nouns ending in “-au” or “-eu” add an “-x” to the ending to form the plural, for example:

chapeaum	hat	chapeauxm	hats
rideaum	curtain	rideauxm	curtains
feum	fire	feuxm	fires
lieum	place	lieuxm	places

A notable exception is “pneu^m” (tire), whose plural is “pneus.”

3. Nouns ending in “-ail” or “-al”

Nouns ending in “-ail” or “-al” change the ending to “-aux” to form the plural, for example:

animalm	animal	animauxm	animals
chevalm	horse	chevauxm	horses
travailm	work	travauxm	works
corailm	coral	corauxm	corals

4. Some nouns ending in “-ou”

The following nouns ending in “-ou” add “-x” to the ending to form the plural. These words need to be memorized.

bijoum	jewel	bijouxm	jewels
cailloum	pebble	caillouxm	pebbles
choum	cabbage	chouxm	cabbages
genoum	knee	genouxm	knees
hiboum	owl	hibouxm	owls
poum	louse	pouxm	louses
joujoum	toy	joujouxm	toys

Although the categories above cover most irregular plurals. There are a few words that do not fall under any of these categories. For instance, the plural of “l’œil^m” (the eye) is “les yeux” (the eyes). Moreover, some words are only used in plural form such as “ciseaux^m” (scissors) and “lunettes^f” (glasses).

To form the plural of an adjective, the general rule is to add an “-s” to the end of the adjective, e.g., “petits” is the plural of “petit” (small), with the following exceptions:

1. If the adjective ends with “-s” or “-x,” the plural form is the same as the singular. For example, “français” is the plural of “français” (French), and “heureux” is the plural of “heureux” (happy).
2. If the adjective ends with “-al” or “-eau,” the plural form ends in “-aux.” For example, “principaux” is the plural of “principal” (main or principal), and “nouveaux” is the plural of “nouveau” (new).

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