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), the dancer, 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, and 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 when 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 : (7) Most of the names of animals have only one form for both genders such are: To all these nouns, when we wish to determine the sex, we add mâle or femelle la panthère mâle, la panthère femelle; l'éléphant mâle, l'éléphant femelle. (8) Some nouns are of double gender; for example : un(e) artiste, an artist. un(e) enfant, a child. un(e) malade, a patient. un(e) esclave, a slave. un(e) camarade, a comrade. un(e) propriétaire, an owner. (9) A number of nouns change their meaning according to the gender; the following are a few of them : IV. Formation of the plural. Nouns and adjectives form their plural by adding s to the singular: Lesson 31. EXCEPTIONS.—(1) Nouns and adjectives ending in 8, x, z, in the singular, are the same in the plural: Lesson 31. (2) Nouns and adjectives ending in -au or--eu take x in the plural: Lesson 31. But the noun landau, a landau (sort of carriage), and the adjective bleu, blue, take s in the plural. (3) Nouns and adjectives in -al change al into aux; Lesson 31. But s is added in the plural to the nouns bal, carnaval, chacal, régal, and to the adjectives amical, fatal, final, glacial, initial, matinal, naval, pénal, théâtral, and a few others seldom used. (4) The following nouns ending in -ail change ail into aux : Bétail, cattle, has no plural; bestiaux is the plural word for cattle. (6) Aïeul, ciel, and œil, generally make aïeux, ancestors; cieux, heavens; yeux, eyes. But aïeul makes aïeuls, when it means the paternal and maternal grandfathers; ciel makes ciels when it means the testers of beds, the roofs of quarries, or "skies" in painting; and in the cases when œil does not mean properly eye, it makes œils, as, des œilsde-bœuf, oval windows. (7) Foreign words, which have not yet been naturalized in France by custom, remain invariable, such as: des alibi, des errata, des infolio, des in-quarto, des post-scriptum, des fac-simile, des Te Deum, etc. But the following take the mark of the plural: des bravos, des duos, des trios, des numéros, des opéras, des zéros, des impromptus, des échos, des déficits, etc. (8) Plural of compound nouns. GENERAL RULES. To form the plural of a compound noun : (a) If the noun is composed of two nouns or an adjective and a noun, connected by a hyphen, both parts are made plural. (b) If the noun is composed of two nouns connected by a preposition and hyphens, the first noun only is made plural. le chef-d'œuvre, l'arc-en-ciel, the masterpiece, les chefs-d'œuvre. (c) If the noun is composed of a noun and a verb, adverb, or preposition, the noun only takes the sign of the plural. the corkscrew, le tire bouchon, les tire-bouchons. l'arrière-grand-père, the great-grandfather, les arrière-grands-pères. Some compound nouns have a plural form when their meaning is singular le cure-dents, the tooth-pick; le casse-noisettes, the nut-cracker; le porte-clefs, the turnkey; un essuie-mains (or main), a towel. : 1 s not heard. |