Is there a sure-fire way of knowing if a noun is masculine or feminine?

There is no such thing as a foolproof way of determining the gender of a noun. However, there are a few rules which are worth learning and which will help you in this way, especially if you are a list learner. The one thing which you need to pay attention to is the ending of the word in question. Indeed, most words ending with -ment, -isme, -al, and -oir are masculine. Conversely, most words ending with -ure, -té, -ion, and -ie are feminine.

Having said that, you should bear in mind that this is not a rule of thumb and that there will always be exceptions. Were you to hazard a guess, I strongly suggest you choose a masculine article or ending since not only are masculine nouns more numerous, but they are also much more common than their feminine counterparts.

Samy C. avatar
Answered by Samy C. French tutor

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