Is « écureuil » masculine or feminine?

« écureuil » is masculine. You say l'écureuil.

Article forms

With the definite article l'écureuil
With the indefinite article un écureuil
With the partitive article de l'écureuil

Plural

The plural is écureuils (les écureuils). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.

Why the gender

écureuil ends in -euil. Nouns ending in -euil are usually masculine, so écureuil follows the pattern. The full rules by ending cover every common suffix.

Related words

Other common nouns that end the same way:

Common questions

Is « écureuil » masculine or feminine?

« écureuil » is masculine. You say l'écureuil.

« l'écureuil » hides the gender. Is « écureuil » masculine or feminine?

It is masculine. The article shortens to « l'écureuil » for both genders, but you say un écureuil, not une écureuil, and adjectives take the masculine form.


Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.