Is « dette » masculine or feminine?
« dette » is feminine. You say la dette.
Article forms
| With the definite article | la dette |
| With the indefinite article | une dette |
| With the partitive article | de la dette |
Plural
The plural is dettes (les dettes). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
dette ends in
-ette. Nouns ending in
-ette are usually feminine,
so dette follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
J'ai une dette à payer.
I have a debt to pay. -
Tom a des dettes de jeu.
Tom has gambling debts. -
La dette du pays s'accroît.
The national debt is growing.
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 « dette » masculine or feminine?
« dette » is feminine. You say la dette.
Is it « le dette » or « la dette »?
It is « la dette ». « le dette » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.