Is « impatience » masculine or feminine?

« impatience » is feminine. You say l'impatience.

Article forms

With the definite article l'impatience
With the indefinite article une impatience
With the partitive article de l'impatience

Plural

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

Why the gender

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

« impatience » is feminine. You say l'impatience.

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

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


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