Is « femelle » masculine or feminine?
« femelle » is feminine. You say la femelle.
Article forms
| With the definite article | la femelle |
| With the indefinite article | une femelle |
| With the partitive article | de la femelle |
Plural
The plural is femelles (les femelles). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
femelle ends in
-elle. Nouns ending in
-elle are usually feminine,
so femelle follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
La biche est la femelle du cerf.
A doe is a female deer. -
La jument est la femelle du cheval.
A mare is a female horse. -
Ce chien est-il un mâle ou une femelle?
Is that dog male or female?
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 « femelle » masculine or feminine?
« femelle » is feminine. You say la femelle.
Is it « le femelle » or « la femelle »?
It is « la femelle ». « le femelle » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.