APPENDIX

II. The gender of inanimate objects.

A short and satisfactory rule for the gender of French nouns is as follows:

Nouns having the following terminations are feminine:

ale, ole, ule; ure, ère, eur;
rre, lle, ie, ié; ée, ue, ion;

be, ce, de; fe, ne, pe;

se, te, té; ve, he, aison.

As cathédrale, école, nature, faveur, terre, conversation, clémence, cité, beauté, moitié, marche, maison, liaison.

All other nouns are masculine.

As port, cheval, café, crime, village.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but it holds good in 95 cases out of 100.

Observe that the rule does not apply to nouns evidently denoting males, as prince, homme, etc.; or to nouns evidently denoting females, as princesse, dame, etc.

III. Formation of the feminine in nouns representing animate beings.

Nouns representing animate beings usually have a particular form for each sex, and their feminine, like the feminine of adjectives, is more or less regularly formed:

(1) Those ending with an e mute are the same for both

(2) Substantives ending in -eur and derived from a present

participle change -eur into -euse :

le danseur (from dansant),
le plaideur (from plaidant),
le buveur (from buvant),

the dancer,
the suitor,
the drinker,

la danseuse. la plaideuse. la buveuse.

(3) Substantives ending in -teur, and which are not derived from a present participle, change -teur into -trice :

Add to these: le débiteur, debtor; l'inspecteur, the inspector; l'exécuteur, the executor; l'inventeur, the inventor; le persecuteur, the persecutor.

(4) Some in -eur change it into -eresse for the feminine, such as: l'enchanteur, the enchanter, l'enchanteresse; le pécheur, the sinner, la pécheresse; le vengeur, the avenger, la vengeresse; le défendeur, the defendant, la défenderesse; le chasseur, the hunter, la chasseresse. Chanteur has two feminines, chanteuse and cantatrice: the latter is used only of professional singers. Empereur makes impératrice; gouverneur, gouvernante; serviteur, servante; compagnon, compagne; héros, héroïne; dieu, déesse; duc, duchesse. Témoin is used for both genders, ano also auteur, poète, philosophe, peintre, juge, guide, etc., and even possesseur, successeur, and professeur. Ange, angel, is always masculine.

(5) Some nouns originally feminine keep that gender, even wher applied to man: la dupe, the dupe; la sentinelle, the sentry; la recrue, the recruit; la victime, the victim; la personne, the person; la ganache, the blockhead; la connaissance, the acquaintance, etc.

(6) Some names of animals form their feminine irregularly: