French Nouns Starting With N

42 of the most common French nouns start with N: 22 masculine, 19 feminine, and 1 that take either gender. 1 breaks the usual rule for its ending, so those are the ones to memorize.

Noun	Gender	Meaning	Ending rule
le nain	masculine		Follows `-in`
la naissance	feminine		Follows `-ance`
la nana	feminine		No rule
la nation	feminine		Follows `-tion`
la nature	feminine		Follows `-ure`
la nausée	feminine		Follows `-ée`
la navette	feminine		Follows `-ette`
le navire	masculine		No rule
le nazi	masculine		No rule
le nécessaire	masculine		No rule
le négatif	masculine		No rule
la négociation	feminine		Follows `-tion`
le nègre	masculine		No rule
le négro / la négro	both		No rule
la neige	feminine		No rule
le nerf	masculine		No rule
le nettoyage	masculine		Follows `-age`
le neveu	masculine		Follows `-eu`
le nez	masculine		No rule
le nichon	masculine		No rule
le nid	masculine		No rule
la nièce	feminine		No rule
le niveau	masculine	level	Follows `-eau`
la noce	feminine		No rule
le noël	masculine		No rule
le noir	masculine		Follows `-oir`
le nom	masculine	name; last name; noun	No rule
le nombre	masculine		No rule
le nord	masculine		No rule
la normale	feminine		No rule
la norme	feminine		No rule
la note	feminine		No rule
la notion	feminine		Follows `-tion`
la nouille	feminine		Follows `-ille`
la nounou	feminine		Exception `-ou` is usually masculine
la nourriture	feminine		Follows `-ure`
le novembre	masculine		No rule
le noyau	masculine		No rule
le nuage	masculine		Follows `-age`
la nuit	feminine	night	No rule
le numéro	masculine	number	Follows `-o`
la nuque	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.