Is « cou » masculine or feminine?
« cou » is masculine. You say le cou.
Article forms
| With the definite article | le cou |
| With the indefinite article | un cou |
| With the partitive article | du cou |
Plural
The plural is cous (les cous). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
cou ends in
-ou. Nouns ending in
-ou are usually masculine,
so cou follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
Il m'a pris par le cou.
He seized me by the neck. -
Il m'a attrapé par le cou.
He caught me by the neck. -
Je t’embrasse dans le cou.
I kiss you on the neck.
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 « cou » masculine or feminine?
« cou » is masculine. You say le cou.
Is it « la cou » or « le cou »?
It is « le cou ». « la cou » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.