French nouns are powerhouses of communication! In grammar, the definition of a noun is that it’s the word(s) in a sentence that represent a person, place, thing, or idea. It’s essential to name these specifics in your sentence so people understand what you’re referring to. Nouns in the French language direct much of the sentence since they work alongside articles and adjectives. Most importantly, the more common French words and nouns you know, the more concepts you can understand and speak about with confidence.
The French word for “noun” is le nom, but you may hear it called le substantif. We’ll share some common French nouns, how they function in a sentence, and a few tips for using them effectively. Rosetta Stone is not only here to introduce you to loads of French nouns, but with our proven methods, we support you every step of the way as you learn French from the experts!
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Identifying French Nouns
A noun is a naming word. It can identify a person, a place, a tangible object, a concept, or a general idea. This is fairly simple, right? If we really want to understand nouns at a deeper level, there are several attributes to be familiar with, such as whether a noun is uncountable or countable and whether it is proper or common. You’ll also need to know its number and gender (dictated by French grammar rules). A noun can have several of these attributes below at the same time. For example, it can be singular, feminine, and abstract, like la jeunesse (youth). Or it could be plural, masculine, and concrete, like les lits (the beds).
| Noun Type | Definition | Examples |
| le nom propre (proper noun) | the specific name of an individual, a place, or a unique thing; begins with a capital letter | Joseph La France L’Académie Française |
| le nom commun (common noun) | a class or category of person, place, thing, or concept; does not refer to a specific individual | l’homme (the man) le pays (the country) l’organisation (the organization) |
| le nom comptable (countable noun) | a quantity of the noun can be determined; it can be preceded by a cardinal number (ex. one, twelve, forty) | trois filles (three girls) cinquante étoiles (fifty stars) mille pages (a thousand pages) |
| le nom massif (uncountable noun / mass noun) | it cannot be counted or preceded by a number since it is abstract or can be divided into infinite parts; distinguished from countable noun | l’eau (water) le sable (sand) la joie (joy) |
| le nom composé (compound noun) | a noun that is made up of two or more words; often connected with a hyphen | l’arc-en-ciel (the rainbow) le coffre-fort (the safe) le gratte-ciel (the skyscraper) |
| le nom masculin (masculine noun) | a noun having masculine grammatical gender | le couteau (the knife) le spectacle (the show) le journal (the newspaper) |
| le nom féminin (feminine noun) | a noun having feminine grammatical gender | la bibliothèque (the library) la framboise (the raspberry) la bouteille (the bottle) |
| le nom singulier (singular noun) | refers to only one person or thing, or a collective noun treated as a single unit | le roi (the king) la reine (the queen) l’équipe (the team) |
| le nom pluriel (plural noun) | refers to more than one person or thing | les rois (the kings) les reines (the queens) |
| le nom concret (concrete noun) | refers to something you can experience with your senses, including material or physical objects | la guitare (the guitar) la lampe (the lamp) le lit (the bed) |
| le nom abstrait (abstract noun) | refers to a quality, a non-material concept, or something intangible | l’histoire (history) la jeunesse (youth) l’assurance (guarantee) |
How do French nouns interact with other parts of speech?
Nouns are one of the main components of a sentence that make up French parts of speech. French nouns will influence or be influenced by other surrounding words in the sentence in a few important ways.
Nouns and adjectives
All French adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in both gender and number. For example, if a noun is masculine and singular, the adjective that modifies (or describes) it will need to match. It will also be in the masculine singular form.
- Le livre est intéressant. (m.s.) = The book is interesting.
- Les lettres sont intéressantes. (f. pl.) = The letters are interesting.
Nouns and articles
Articles must agree with the noun they precede in both gender and number. This applies to all of the articles in French, including definite, indefinite, and partitive articles.
| Definite Article | Indefinite Article | Partitive Article |
| le gâteau (the cake) | un gâteau (a cake) | du gâteau (some cake) |
| la glace (the ice cream) | une glace (an ice cream) | de la glace (some ice cream) |
| les pâtes (the pasta) | (uses the partitive because pasta is uncountable) | des pâtes (some pasta) |
| les biscuits (the cookies) | un biscuit (a cookie) des biscuits (some cookies) |
(uses the indefinite article because cookies are countable) |
| l’oignon (the onion) | un oignon (an onion) des oignons (some onions) |
de l’oignon (some onion) |
Nouns and pronouns
A noun can be replaced by a pronoun to avoid repetition. All French pronouns must match the noun’s gender and number just as subjects and verbs agree in English and French.
- Paul Cézanne est né à Aix-en-Provence le 19 janvier. = Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence on January 19.
- Il est connu pour peindre les paysages. = He is known for painting landscapes.
- Édith Piaf est née le 19 décembre à Paris. = Édith Piaf was born on December 19 in Paris.
- Elle est connue pour chanter beaucoup de chansons classiques. = She is known for singing many classic songs.
- Ils sont forts et courageux. = They are strong and courageous.
- Astérix et Obélix sont personnages d’ une bande dessinée très appréciée. = Astérix and Obélix are characters from a very popular comic book.
Nouns and verbs
A noun is often used as the subject of a sentence. To properly follow French verb conjugation rules, the verb will be conjugated in the form that agrees with the subject.
For example, if the noun is les chiens (dogs), it is a third person plural noun and will need a plural verb. The verb aboyer (to bark) must be conjugated to the third person plural form: aboient (bark).
- Les chiens aboient. = The dogs bark.
- Mon chat n’aboie pas. Il miaule. = My cat doesn’t bark. He meows.
Both parts of certain compound tenses, such as the passé composé with être, are affected by the gender and number of the subject.
- Jules César est mort aux Ides de mars. = Julius Caesar died on the Ides of March.
- De nombreuses personnes sont mortes à cause de l’éruption du Vésuve. = Many people died because of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
A noun can also be the object of the verb. It could be either a direct or an indirect object in the sentence, depending on how it is affected by the action of the verb. In other words, is the direct object (noun) being acted upon or doing the action?
- J’ai mangé la pomme. = I ate the apple. (direct object)
- J’ai jeté la pomme à ma sœur. = I threw the apple to my sister. (indirect object)
How to identify a noun’s gender
The gender of French nouns is invariable, meaning it does not change. It is important to know whether a noun is masculine or feminine in order to select the correct article or pronoun to go with it. Knowing the gender also helps with accurate adjective agreement, which is just one of the important gender rules in French.
As you’re learning French words and nouns, it is helpful to pay attention to their gender. Here are some clues for determining the gender of a French noun:
- Learn it alongside an article
- The articles le and un are giveaways that a noun is masculine.
- You can assume that la and une will precede a feminine noun.
- If the article is plural, as in les or des, you’ll need more information.
- If the noun begins with a vowel or silent “h,” the definite article l’ won’t tell you for sure what the noun’s gender is.
- Notice the adjective agreement in a sentence. Since the adjective must agree with the noun it is describing, you can tell the gender of singular nouns that start with a vowel.
- L’or est brillant. = Gold is shiny.(masculine)
- L’étoile est brillante. = The star is shiny. (feminine)
- Look it up in a vocabulary list or resource.
- Some dictionaries will include additional information about French words and nouns, such as “m.s.” for “ masculine singular,” or “f.pl.” for “feminine plural.” This is especially helpful when you don’t have other obvious clues.
Categories of common masculine nouns in French
Certain categories make a lot of sense as masculine nouns in French, such as the obvious words for male humans and other living things, but others might surprise you! Here are a few categories of nouns in the French language that are usually masculine.
| Noun Category | Examples |
| borrowed English words | le jogging (jogging) le shampooing (shampoo )le weekend (the weekend) |
| cardinal points | l’est (east) le nord (north) le sud (south) L’ouest (west) |
| colors | le blanc (white) le bleu (blue) le rouge (red) |
| countries ending with a letter other than “-e” | le Canada (Canada) le Japon (Japan) |
| days of the week | le lundi (Monday) le mardi (Tuesday) le mercredi (Wednesday) le jeudi (Thursday) le vendredi (Friday) le samedi (Saturday) le dimanche (Sunday) |
| languages | L’allemand (German) L’anglais (English) le chinois (Chinese) L’espagnol (Spanish) le français (French) l’italien (Italian) le japonais (Japanese) le russe (Russian) |
| male animals | le bélier (the ram) le coq (the rooster) le taureau (the bull) |
| men and boys | le garçon (the boy) l’homme (the man) le neveu (the nephew) l’oncle (the uncle) le père (the father) |
| metals | l’argent (silver) l’or (gold) le plomb (iron) |
| seasons | l’été (summer) l’automne (fall) l’hiver (winter) le printemps (spring) |
French noun endings that are usually masculine
Paying attention to patterns such as word endings can help you identify masculine nouns in the French language.
| Ending of French Word | Example |
| -acle | le spectacle (the show) |
| -asme | le sarcasme (sarcasm) |
| -eau | le berceau (the cradle) |
| -eur | l’extérieur (the outside) |
| -isme | le minimalisme (minimalism) |
| -ment | l’enseignement (teaching / education) |
Categories of common feminine nouns in French
While there are always exceptions to any rule, these categories can help you notice patterns of gender in French nouns that are feminine.
| Noun Category | Examples |
| continents | L’Afrique (Africa) L’Amérique du Nord/Sud (North / South America) L’Asie (Asia) l’Australie (Australia) l’Europe (Europe) |
| countries ending in “-e” | La Chine (China) La France (France) L’Inde (India) L’Italie (Italy) |
| female animals | la brebis (the ewe) la poule (the hen) la vache (the cow) |
| school subjects other than languages | la biologie (biology) la chimie (chemistry) l’histoire (history) la littérature (literature) la mathématiques (mathematics) la philosophie (philosophy) |
| women and girls | la femme (the woman) la fille (the girl) la mère (the mother) la nièce (the niece) la tante (the aunt) |
French nouns endings that are usually feminine
These word endings often belong to the group of feminine nouns in French. While there are exceptions to any rule, it is helpful to notice general patterns of noun endings in case you need to guess.
| Ending of French Word | Example |
| -ance / ence | la finance (finance) la fréquence (the frequency) |
| -sion / tion | l’excursion (the trip) la nation (the nation) |
| -té | la beauté (beauty) |
| -tude | l’inquiétude (the worry) |
| -ure | la culture (culture) |
French nouns that change meaning with gender
Some nouns exist in both genders but can change meaning depending on the article that comes before it. This is not an exhaustive list, but it could help you avoid some confusion.
| Masculine French Word | Feminine French Word |
| le guide (guide) | la guide (reins of a horse) |
| le livre (the book) | la livre (the pound, a measure of weight) |
| le mémoire (the memoir) | la mémoire (the memory) |
| le mode (method, way) | la mode (fashion) |
| le moule (the mold or pan for baking) | la moule (the mussel, a type of mollusk) |
| le poste (job) | la poste (the post office) |
| le tour (the turn when taking turns) | la tour (the tower) |
| le voile (veil) | la voile (sail on a boat) |
Nouns that are singular in French but plural in English
English speakers might want to pay particular attention to nouns that are used in the singular in French rather than the plural. Remember, the forms of verbs and adjectives will change to match the noun, so knowing these words will help you structure the whole sentence.
| Singular French Noun | Plural English Noun |
| l’actualité | the current events / the news |
| la batterie | the drums (as in the drum set) |
| le contenu | the contents |
| l’escalier | the stairs |
| le pyjama | the pajamas |
| la vaisselle | the dishes |
Nouns that are plural in French but singular in English
You may spend your vacation in France, but be aware that the French word les vacances (the vacations) is plural as opposed to the singular form in English. Here are several other examples to help you sound more authentically French.
| Plural French Noun | Singular English Noun |
| les bagages | the baggage or luggage |
| les céreales | the cereal |
| les cheveux | the hair |
| les conseils | the advice |
| les échecs | chess (the game) |
| les meubles | the furniture |
| les ordures/les déchets | the trash or the garbage |
| les pâtes | the pasta |
| les preuves | the evidence |
| les sciences | science |
| les toilettes | the restroom |
| les vacances | the vacation |
Use nouns in French with confidence with Rosetta Stone
Part of speaking French with confidence is not only knowing how to use nouns that represent people, places, things, and concepts, but also understanding their gender, number, and other attributes. With nouns as the anchors of your sentence, you’ll be able to choose the correct forms of articles, verbs, and adjectives to construct meaningful sentences that also sound amazing!
Understanding all about nouns in French makes it all the more rewarding when you see them in context, such as when you read some of Rosetta Stone’s Stories. As part of the all-in-one Rosetta Stone app, these stories bring the lessons together in a story as if you were already in France.
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