Is « bateau » masculine or feminine?
« bateau » is masculine. You say le bateau.
In English, « bateau » means boat, ship.
Article forms
| With the definite article | le bateau |
| With the indefinite article | un bateau |
| With the partitive article | du bateau |
Plural
The plural is bateaux (les bateaux). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
bateau ends in
-eau. Nouns ending in
-eau are usually masculine,
so bateau follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
J'ai un bateau.
I have a boat. -
Le bateau coule.
The ship is sinking. -
Un bateau chavira.
A boat capsized.
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. Each links to its source sentence.
Related words
Other common nouns that end the same way:
Common questions
Is « bateau » masculine or feminine?
« bateau » is masculine. You say le bateau.
Is it « la bateau » or « le bateau »?
It is « le bateau ». « la bateau » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.