French adjectives can change their forms depending on whether the nouns they describe are masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Usually the feminine form adds “e” to the masculine adjective. This can change the pronunciation of the adjective by causing the final consonant to be pronounced.
Eg.: The dog is small.
ms Le chien est petit. (puh-TEE)
The mouse is small.
fs La souris est petite. (puh-TEET)
The plural form adds “s.” This “s” is almost never pronounced.
Eg.: The dogs are small.
mp Les chiens sont petits. (puh-TEE)
The mice are small.
fp Les souris sont petites. (puh-TEET)
In English, the adjective doesn't change,but in French it must agree in number (singular or plural) and in gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun that it is describing. Remember this when you are using any French adjective, especially colour words.
Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for grades K-9.
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Gender
One of the key differences between English and French is that French nouns have gender. Gender exists in many languages such as Spanish, Italian, German and some of the oldest documented languages that we are still familiar with today, Latin and Classical Greek.
Whenever you learn a new noun in French you must be sure to memorize whether it is masculine or feminine. Don’t be discouraged! French has only two genders, but some other languages have three! Your French/English dictionary will always indicate the gender of a French noun.
When you are reading or listening to French, you can tell the gender of a noun by the singular article that is used with it. Plural articles are the same for masculine and feminine nouns.
the definite article (the)
masculine singular = le
eg: le garçon = the boy
feminine singular = la
eg: la fille = the girl
masculine and feminine plural = les
eg: les garçons = the boys, les filles = the girls
the indefinite article (a, an, some, any)
masculine singular = un
eg: un garçon = a boy
feminine singular = une
eg: une fille = a girl
masculine and feminine plural = des
eg: des garçons = some boys, des filles = some girls
Visit Nallenart for more! http://www.nallenart.on.ca
Whenever you learn a new noun in French you must be sure to memorize whether it is masculine or feminine. Don’t be discouraged! French has only two genders, but some other languages have three! Your French/English dictionary will always indicate the gender of a French noun.
When you are reading or listening to French, you can tell the gender of a noun by the singular article that is used with it. Plural articles are the same for masculine and feminine nouns.
the definite article (the)
masculine singular = le
eg: le garçon = the boy
feminine singular = la
eg: la fille = the girl
masculine and feminine plural = les
eg: les garçons = the boys, les filles = the girls
the indefinite article (a, an, some, any)
masculine singular = un
eg: un garçon = a boy
feminine singular = une
eg: une fille = a girl
masculine and feminine plural = des
eg: des garçons = some boys, des filles = some girls
Visit Nallenart for more! http://www.nallenart.on.ca
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