Is « héritier » masculine or feminine?

« héritier » is masculine. You say l'héritier.

Article forms

With the definite article l'héritier
With the indefinite article un héritier
With the partitive article de l'héritier

Plural

The plural is héritiers (les héritiers). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.

Why the gender

héritier ends in -ier. Nouns ending in -ier are usually masculine, so héritier follows the pattern. The full rules by ending cover every common suffix.

Related words

Other common nouns that end the same way:

Common questions

Is « héritier » masculine or feminine?

« héritier » is masculine. You say l'héritier.

« l'héritier » hides the gender. Is « héritier » masculine or feminine?

It is masculine. The article shortens to « l'héritier » for both genders, but you say un héritier, not une héritier, and adjectives take the masculine form.


Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.