Is « besoin » masculine or feminine?
« besoin » is masculine. You say le besoin.
In English, « besoin » means need.
Article forms
| With the definite article | le besoin |
| With the indefinite article | un besoin |
| With the partitive article | du besoin |
Plural
The plural is besoins (les besoins). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
besoin ends in
-in. Nouns ending in
-in are usually masculine,
so besoin follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
J'ai des besoins.
I have needs. -
Je suis dans le besoin.
I'm needy. -
Une femme a des besoins.
A woman has needs.
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 « besoin » masculine or feminine?
« besoin » is masculine. You say le besoin.
Is it « la besoin » or « le besoin »?
It is « le besoin ». « la besoin » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.