• Persons le pere le beau-pere le grand-pere le papa le frere l'oncle le fils le beau-fils le petit-fils l'homme le mari le gar9on legendre le parrain le monsieur le neveu le roi I'empereur ledieu
• Animals le bceuf le bouc le cerf le cheval3 le coq le male4 le matou le mouton le taureau
1. le chevre = goat cheese
the father
the father-in-law, stepfather the grandfather
the dad the brother the uncle the son
the son-in-law, stepson the grandson
the man the husband the boy the son-in-law the godfather the gentleman the nephew the king the emperor the god
the ox the billy-goat the stag the horse the rooster the male the tomcat the sheep the bull
Ia mere Ia belle-mere Ia grand-mere lamaman Ia sceur Ia tante Ia fille Ia belle-fille Ia petite-fille Ia femme Ia femme Ia fille Ia bru Ia marraine Ia dame Ia niece Ia reine l'imperatrice Ia deesse
Ia vache Ia chevre1 Ia biche2 lajument Ia poule Ia femelle Ia chatte Ia brebis Ia vache
2. Ma biche, rna puce and mon lapin (my rabbit) are expressions of endeannent.
3. or: I' eta! on = the stallion
4. Male and femelle only refer to animals in French. One uses homme and femme for humans.
the mother
the mother-in-law, stepmother the grandmother
the mom the sister the aunt the daughter
the daughter-in-law, stepdaughter the granddaughter
the woman the wife the girl
the daughter-in-law the godmother the lady the niece the queen the empress the goddess
the cow the nanny-goat the doe the mare the hen the female the female cat the ewe the COW
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The Noun 237 But:
Most nouns referring to animals have only one form and gender (they exist either only in the masculine or only in the feminine form) which is used for both the male and female animal.
nne abeille a bee uneoie a goose
one araignee a spider unoiseau a bird
le corbeau the crow le papillon the butterfly
un ecureuil a squirrel le poisson the fish
un elephant an elephant le poulet the chicken
lafourmi the ant Ia puce the flea
Ia girafe the giraffe le rat the rat
Ia grenouille the frog le saumon the salmon
Ia guepe the wasp Ia souris the mouse
one hirondelle a swallow Ia tortue the turtle
Ia mouche the fly Ia truite the trout
5. Nouns without a separate feminine form
The masculine and feminine forms of the following nouns designating persons (and mostly ending in -e) are identical. Only the article changes.
un/une adulte an adult un/une eleve a pupil
untune architecte an architect un/une enfant a child
untune artiste an artist lelia fonctionnaire the civil servant
un/une athlete an athlete lelia gosse (Jam.) the kid
lelia bibliothecaire the librarian le/la guide the guide
lelia camarade the friend untune interprete an interpreter
leila camarade de chambre the roommate leila journaliste the journalist le/la celibataire the unmarried person lelia libraire the bookseller
lelia collegue the colleague le/la locataire the tenant
lelia colocataire the housemate lelia malade the patient
leila complice the accomplice lelia partenaire the partner
lelia comptable the accountant le/la photographe the photographer
lelia concierge the concierge lelia pianiste the pianist
le/la dentiste the dentist le/la secretaire the secretary
le/la domestique the servant lelia touriste the tourist
6. Nouns that have only one form and gender
• The following nouns (most of them indicating professions that used to be male dominated) are always masculine. They refer to both men and women.
un assassin a murderer le maire the mayor
un auteur the author le mannequin the fashion model
le bebe1 the baby le medecin the doctor
le cadre2 the executive le ministre2 the secretary (government)
le chef the leader, the boss un otage2 a hostage
le chirurgien2 the surgeon le peintre the painter
le compositeur the composer le pilote the pilot
le cordon bleu the fine cook le poete the poet
le docteur the doctor le professeuf the teacher
un ecrivain a writer le sculpteur the sculptor
le genie the genius le sosie the look-alike, the double
un ingenieur2 an engineer le successeur the successor
lejuge2 the judge le temoin the witness
---ã---
1. To specify the sex of a baby, the word garfon or fille is added after the masculine noun.
le bebe gar~n the baby boy le bebe fille the baby girl
2. In today's French, Ia ministre, Ia cadre, lajoge, one ingenieore, Ia chirurgienne and one otage become more and more common.
3. The abbreviated form prof (used in familiar French) however can be used with the feminine article: La prof est belle.
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238 A Complete French Grammar Note:
Since professions such as professeur, medecin, etc. do not have a feminine form, the word femme is placed before them if one wants to make clear that a woman and not a man is exercising one of these professions.
une femme professeur, une femme peintre, une femme ecrivain, une femme auteur, une femme medecin, etc.
• The following nouns designating persons are always feminine. They refer to both men and women.
Ia celebrite Ia connaissance Ia coqueluche (fam.) une idole
Exercice 3
the celebrity the acquaintance the darling, the favorite an idol
Ia personne1 Ia sentinelle Ia vedette Ia victime
Donnez Ia forme feminine des mots suivants et traduisez ce mot en anglais.
Exemple: le loup la louve the female wolf
1. le copain - - - - 2. le h e r o s - - - - 3.le roi - - - - 4. le gar~on - - - - 5.lemari _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - 6.le f i l s - - - - 7.1e frere - - - - 8.l'oncle - - - - 9.leneveu _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - 10. un monsieur _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - 1l.le chat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - 12.lebreuf _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - 13.1e coq - - - - 14. le m o u t o n - - - -
Exercice 4 Traduisez.
I. the spider _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. the m o u s e - - - - 3. the butterfly _ _ _ _ _ 4. the housemate - - - - Exercice 5
Traduisez les mots en italique.
5. a squirrel _ _ _ _ _ _ 6. the fish _ _ _ _ _ 7. the trout _ _ _ _ _ _ 8. the look-alike---
the person
the sentinel, the lookout man the movie star
the victim
9. the ant _ _ _ _ _ 10.thefly _ _ _ _ _ 11. the frog _ _ _ _ _ 12. the tenant _ _ _ _ _
I. Monsieur Avenel is a very nice person. Monsieur Avenel e s t - - - - 2. My favorite movie star is Gerard Depardieu. - - - • c'est Gerard Depardieu.
3. Paul was the victim. Paul etait - - - -
4. This man is an acquaintance of my mother. Cet homme e s t - - - de rna mere.
5. Marie is only a child. Marie n'est qu' - - - -
6. Anne has a housemate whose name is Hillary. Anne a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ qui s'appelle Hillary.
7. This woman is the double of Queen Sofia. Cette femme est de Ia reine Sofia.
8. My daughter was a cute baby. Ma fille etait - - - -
9. Mrs. Duval, the Latin teacher, is a genius. Mme D u v a l , - - - est _ _ _ _ _ _ 10. Claudia Fisher was an extraordinary fashion model. Claudia Fisher etait - - - - 11. This singer is an idol to the young people. Ce chanteur e s t - - - des jeunes.
12. Madame Genet was the witness of the accident. Madame Genet etait de !'accident 1. Do not confuse Ia personne (the person) with the indefinite pronoun personne (nobody).
Une personne est venue.
Personne n'est venu.
One person came.
Nobody came.
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The Noun 239
Exercice 6
Quelle est Ia 'profession' des personnes suivantes? Utilisez !'article indefini +nom.
I. Elisabeth II d'Angleterre, c'est _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Renoir, c'est - - - -
3. Caroline de Monaco, c'est - - - - 4. Celine Dion, c'est _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5. Gerard Depardieu, c'est - - - - 6. Rodin, c'est _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7. Claudia Schiffer, c'est - - - -
8. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, c'est _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9. Jean Nouvel, c'est - - - -
10. Paul Bocuse, c'est - - - -