French nouns

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Gender

As in most Romance language, a French noun is either feminine or masculine, even if they describe things or concepts that have no natural gender.

Nouns ending in -age and -ment are usually masculine, as are nouns ending with a consonant. Nouns ending in -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -té, and -ette are usually feminine.

Plural

Most nouns form their plural by adding a silent S. There are a few exceptions, however:

• If there is already an S, X, or Z the noun remains unchanged.
• If the noun ends in -eu or -eau, add a silent X.
• If the noun ends in -ail or -al, change this ending to -aux (with a silent X).

Only a few irregular plurals exist, such as "yeux" as the plural of "oeil" (eye).

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