Is « hôpital » masculine or feminine?

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

Article forms

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

Plural

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

Why the gender

hôpital ends in -al. Nouns ending in -al are usually masculine, so hôpital 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 « hôpital » masculine or feminine?

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

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

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


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