Is « élève » masculine or feminine?
« élève » works as both masculine and feminine. You will see un élève and une élève, with the article carrying the meaning or agreeing with the person described.
Article forms
| With the definite article | l'élève |
| With the indefinite article | un élève / une élève |
| With the partitive article | de l'élève |
Plural
The plural is élèves (les élèves). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
In a sentence
-
Ce sont des élèves.
They're students. -
Les élèves riaient.
The pupils laughed. -
L'élève lut un texte.
The pupil read a text.
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. Each links to its source sentence.
Common questions
Is « élève » masculine or feminine?
« élève » works as both. You will see un élève and une élève, with the article carrying the meaning or agreeing with the person being described.
Is it « un élève » or « une élève »?
Both are correct. Use the masculine or the feminine depending on the sense or the person.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.