Is « pingouin » masculine or feminine?
« pingouin » is masculine. You say le pingouin.
Article forms
| With the definite article | le pingouin |
| With the indefinite article | un pingouin |
| With the partitive article | du pingouin |
Plural
The plural is pingouins (les pingouins). A noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the article stops showing it.
Why the gender
pingouin ends in
-in. Nouns ending in
-in are usually masculine,
so pingouin follows the pattern.
The full rules by ending cover every common
suffix.
In a sentence
-
Est-ce un pingouin ?
Is that a penguin? -
Tu n'es pas un pingouin, Thomas.
You're not a penguin, Thomas. -
Ces orques chassent les pingouins.
These orcas hunt penguins.
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 « pingouin » masculine or feminine?
« pingouin » is masculine. You say le pingouin.
Is it « la pingouin » or « le pingouin »?
It is « le pingouin ». « la pingouin » is incorrect.
Check another word, or read the complete guide to French noun gender.