Is « essentiel » masculine or feminine?
« essentiel » is masculine. You say l'essentiel.
Article forms
| With the definite article | l'essentiel |
| With the indefinite article | un essentiel |
| With the partitive article | de l'essentiel |
Plural
The plural is essentiels (les essentiels). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
In a sentence
-
C'est l'essentiel.
That's the main thing. -
Je reviens à l'essentiel.
I'm just getting back to basics. -
Ils ont oublié l'essentiel.
They forgot the most important thing.
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. Each links to its source sentence.
Common questions
Is « essentiel » masculine or feminine?
« essentiel » is masculine. You say l'essentiel.
« l'essentiel » hides the gender. Is « essentiel » masculine or feminine?
It is masculine. The article shortens to « l'essentiel » for both genders, but you say un essentiel, not une essentiel, and adjectives take the masculine form.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.