Is « caillou » masculine or feminine?
« caillou » is masculine. You say le caillou.
Article forms
| With the definite article | le caillou |
| With the indefinite article | un caillou |
| With the partitive article | du caillou |
Plural
The plural is cailloux (les cailloux). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
caillou ends in
-ou. Nouns ending in
-ou are usually masculine,
so caillou follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
Dessinons un caillou.
Let's draw a stone. -
L'enfant a ramassé un caillou.
The child picked up a small stone. -
J'ai un caillou dans mon soulier.
There's a rock in my shoe.
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 « caillou » masculine or feminine?
« caillou » is masculine. You say le caillou.
Is it « la caillou » or « le caillou »?
It is « le caillou ». « la caillou » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.