Words which belong to the following categories are masculine:
• Names of countries, French regions and departments, American states, Canadian provinces, rivers and mountains which do not end in -e.
le Japon, le Canada, le Danemark, le Portugal, le Perigord, le Texas,le Quebec, le Rhin, le Massif central
• Names of trees and shrubs
le bouleau the birch tree le chene the oak tree le chevrefeuille the honeysuckle le cocotier the coconut tree un erable a maple tree le hetre the beech tree un olivier an olive tree un oranger an orange tree le palmier the palm tree Except:
une aubepine a hawthorn Ia bruyere the heather
Ia ronce Ia vigne
le peuplier le platane le poirier le pommier le prunier le rosier le sapin le saule le tilleul
the poplar the plane tree the pear tree the apple tree the plum tree the rosebush the fir tree the willow the linden tree the blackberry bush
the vine
• Names of fruits, vegetables and flowers that do not end in -e
un abricot un ananas un artichaut un avocat le champignon le camelia le magnolia le geranium Except:
Ia noix the nut
an apricot a pineapple an artichoke an avocado the mushroom the camellia the magnolia the geranium
• Names of languages
le chou le citron le haricot le melon le poivron le muguet un reillet le tournesol
the cabbage the lemon the bean the melon the green pepper the lily of the valley a carnation the sunflower
I' allemand, l'arabe, le fran~ais, I'anglais, l'espagnol, le grec, le japonais, le chinois, le portugais, le russe
www.Ebook777.com
240 A Complete French Grammar
• Names of colors J'aime le bleu et Ie blanc.
II de teste le violet.
Quelle est votre couleur favorite? - Le rouge.
/like blue and white.
He hates purple.
What is your favorite color?- Red.
• Names of days of the week, months, dates and seasons on jour
le dimanche
lundi demier (prochain) le troisieme jeudi de novembre Noel tombe un mardi cette annee.
C'etait on samedi pluvieux.
on ere chaud un hiver froid le printemps onmois
le premier janvier
en avril demier (prochain)
• Names of cardinal points Ie nord
le sud
!'est
the north the south the east
I' ouest le sud-est le nord-ouest
a day on Sundays last (next) Monday
the third Thursday of November Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year.
It was a rainy Saturday.
a hot summer a cold winter the spring a month
the first of January last (next) April
the west the south-east the north-west
• Names of metals, (chemical) substances and precious stones J'acier the steel
!'aluminium the aluminium
!'argent the silver le bronze the bronze le cuivre the copper le diamant the diamond I'etain the pewter le fer the iron l'ivoire the ivory le laiton the brass Except:
one emeraude an emerald une perle
• Names of cardinal numbers and fractions Mon chiffre porte-bonheur est le quatre.
Le treize porte malchance.
un trois, on cinq, on sept un tiers, on quart, on demi on cinquieme
Except:
one moitie one half
• Names of letters of the alphabet Le mot mariage s'ecrit avec on seul r.
on a, un b, on c
• Names of metric units
le mercure the mercury
I' or the gold
I' oxygene the oxygen le platine the platinum le plomb the lead le rubis the ruby le saphir the sapphire le soufre the sulphur le zinc the zinc
a pearl Ia topaze the topaz
My lucky number is four.
The number thirteen brings bad luck.
a three, a .five, a seven a third, a quarter, one half one fifth
The word marriage is written with only one r.
ana, a b, a c
le metre, le kilometre, le litre, le gramme, le kilogramme
www.Ebook777.com
The Noun
• Names of wines and cheeses (because 'vin' and 'fromage' are masculine words) le champagne, le cognac, le Riesling, le Sylvaner, le Vouvray, le Beaujolais le brie, le camembert, le roquefort, le gruyere, le port-salut, le pont-l'eveque
• Names of ships and airplanes (because 'bateau' and 'avion' are masculine words)
le Titanic, le Normandie, on Airbus, le Boeing 747, le Concorde, on A 380 (largest passenger plane)
• Most nouns borrowed from English
le parking (the parking lot), le football, le basketball, le jogging, le hockey, le sandwich, le stress, le week-end, le tee-shirt, le smoking (the tuxedo), le marketing, le pressing (the dry cleaner's), le fax
Words which belong to the following categories are feminine:
• Names of continents, countries, mountains, French regions and departements, Canadian provinces and American states which end in -e
!'Afrique, !'Amerique, l'Asie, l'Australie, !'Europe, Ia France, Ia Hongrie (Hungary), l'Italie, Ia Bretagne, Ia Provence, Ia Normandie, Ia Dordogne, Ia Vendee, Ia Colombie britannique, Ia Californie, Ia Aoride, Ia Louisiane, les Alpes
Except:
le Cambodge (Cambodia), le Mexique (Mexico), le Mozambique, le Zaire, le Zimbabwe, le Finistere, le Maine, le Tennessee, I' Antarctique
• Rivers that end in -e
Ia Loire, Ia Garonne, Ia Seine, Ia Saone, Ia Tamise (the Thames), Ia Moselle Except:
le Rhone, le Danube, le Gange
• Islands
Ia Reunion, Ia Corse, Ia Sardaigne, Ia Crete, Ia Guadeloupe, Ia Martinique Except:
Madagascar
• Fruits, vegetables and flowers that end in -e
Ia banane, Ia cerise (cherry), Ia fraise (strawberry), Ia framboise (raspberry), Ia pasteque (watermelon), 241
Ia poire (pear), Ia pomme (apple), Ia groseille (currant), Ia prune (plum), Ia carotte, Ia tomate, Ia pomme de terre (potato), one aubergine (eggplant), Ia truffe, Ia marguerite, Ia rose, Ia jonquille (the daffodil), Ia tulipe Except:
le chrysantheme le pamplemousse
the chrysanthemum the grapefruit
le narcisse le concombre
• Names of sciences and other fields of study ending in -e
the nacissus the cucumber
l'anthropologie, l'astronomie, Ia biologie, Ia chimie, l'economie, Ia geographie, Ia geometrie, l'histoire, l'informatique (computer science), Ia medecine, Ia pectagogie, Ia philologie, Ia philosophie, Ia physique, Ia psychologie, Ia theologie, Ia sociologie
Except:
le genie (civil) (civil) engineering
• Names of cars (because 'voiture' is a feminine word)
one Cadillac, one Citroen, one BMW, one Mercedes, one Peugeot, une Renault, one Toyota, une VW
www.Ebook777.com
242 A Complete French Grammar Exercice 7
ComphStez par !'article defini qui convient.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Exercice8 Traduisez.
Japon Aoride Mexique Hongrie Mozambique Canada Vietnam
1. the palm t r e e - - - - 2. the fir t r e e - - - - 3. a c a r n a t i o n - - - -
8. _ _ _ _ _ Danemark
9. Cambodge
10. Portugal
11. Colombie britannique
12. Chine
13. Grece
14. Turquie
11. I learn R u s s i a n . - - - - 12. Do you like b l a c k ? - - - - 4. the w a t e r m e l o n - - - -
13. an A 3 8 0 - - - - 14.last M a r c h - - - - 5. the s t r a w b e r r y - - - 15. the white g o l d - - - - 6. the c h e r r y - - - 16. an a v o c a d o - - - - 7. the m u s h r o o m - - - 17. the t u x e d o - - - - 8. the pear _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 18. the dry cleaner's - - - - 9. the p l u m - - - 19. a cool a u t u m n - - - - 10. the t r u f f l e - - - 20. on M o n d a y s - - - -
Exercice 9
ComplcStez par !'article defini qui convient.
1. _ _ _ _ _ Seine 6. russe
2. Rhone 7. fer
3. cocotier 8. Corse
4. noix 9. camembert
5. diamant 10. pamplemousse
Exercice 10
Completez par !'article defini ou indefini qui convient.
1. Elle etudie psycho Iogie et chimie.
2. Mon patron conduit Mercedes.
3. Concorde ne vole plus.
4. Riesling est un vin blanc d'Aisace.
5. Elle m'a envoye fax.