French Nouns Starting With H

53 of the most common French nouns start with H: 26 masculine, 25 feminine, and 2 that take either gender. 1 breaks the usual rule for its ending, so those are the ones to memorize.

Noun Gender Meaning Ending rule
l'habit masculine No rule
l'habitant masculine No rule
l'habitude feminine habit; (d'habitude) usually Follows -ude
la hache feminine No rule
l'hacker masculine No rule
la haine feminine No rule
l'haleine feminine No rule
le hall masculine No rule
l'hallucination feminine Follows -tion
le hamburger masculine No rule
la hanche feminine No rule
le hangar masculine No rule
l'harcèlement masculine Follows -ment
le haricot masculine No rule
l'harmonie feminine Follows -ie
le hasard masculine No rule
la hâte feminine No rule
la hauteur feminine Exception -teur is usually masculine
l'hélicoptère masculine No rule
l'hémorragie feminine Follows -ie
l'herbe feminine No rule
l'héritage masculine Follows -age
l'héritier masculine Follows -ier
l'heure feminine hour; time of day Follows -ure
l'histoire feminine story; history No rule
l'hiver masculine No rule
le hockey masculine No rule
le homard masculine No rule
l'homicide both No rule
l'hommage masculine Follows -age
l'homme masculine man No rule
l'homo both No rule
l'honnêteté feminine Follows -té
l'honneur masculine honor No rule
la honte feminine shame No rule
l'hôpital masculine hospital Follows -al
l'horaire masculine No rule
l'horizon masculine No rule
l'horloge feminine No rule
l'hormone feminine No rule
l'horreur feminine No rule
l'hospitalité feminine Follows -té
l'hôte masculine No rule
l'hôtel masculine hotel; grand town house No rule
l'hôtesse feminine Follows -esse
l'huile feminine No rule
l'huit masculine No rule
l'humain masculine Follows -in
l'humanité feminine Follows -té
l'humeur feminine No rule
l'humiliation feminine Follows -tion
l'humour masculine No rule
l'hypothèse feminine No rule

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The ending rules come from the gender rules by ending. Looking for a noun that is not listed? Look it up on the home page, or go back to the full A-to-Z index.