Is « eau » masculine or feminine?
« eau » is feminine. You say l'eau.
In English, « eau » means water.
Article forms
| With the definite article | l'eau |
| With the indefinite article | une eau |
| With the partitive article | de l'eau |
Plural
The plural is eaux (les eaux). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
eau ends in
-eau. Nouns ending in
-eau are usually masculine,
so eau is one of the exceptions: it is
feminine.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
J'obtins l'eau.
I got the water. -
L'eau est pure.
The water is pure. -
Bois de l'eau !
Drink water!
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 « eau » masculine or feminine?
« eau » is feminine. You say l'eau.
« l'eau » hides the gender. Is « eau » masculine or feminine?
It is feminine. The article shortens to « l'eau » for both genders, but you say une eau, not un eau, and adjectives take the feminine form.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.