French Nouns English Speakers Get Wrong
English has no grammatical gender, so when you learn French there is no instinct to fall back on. A few nouns trip up nearly everyone, either because they look like a safe guess and are not, or because the meaning feels masculine or feminine in a way French does not care about.
For the patterns behind gender, see the gender rules by ending. For the words where the gender flips the meaning, see nouns that change meaning by gender. To check any single word, use the lookup tool.
The classic slip-ups
le problème
Masculine. The final -e and the neutral idea both pull toward feminine.
« Ce n'est pas mon problème. » That is not my problem.
la photo
Feminine. It is short for la photographie, so it stays feminine despite the -o.
« Prends une photo du coucher de soleil. » Take a photo of the sunset.
le musée
Masculine. One of the small group of masculine -ée nouns, next to le lycée and le trophée.
« Le musée est fermé le lundi. » The museum is closed on Mondays.
le silence
Masculine. Masculine even though almost every other -ence noun is feminine.
« Un long silence a suivi. » A long silence followed.
l'eau
Feminine. Feminine, though every other -eau noun (le bureau, le gâteau) is masculine.
« L'eau est froide. » The water is cold.
la main
Feminine. Feminine, though -in nouns are otherwise reliably masculine.
« Donne-moi la main. » Give me your hand.
la fin
Feminine. The same surprise as la main: an -in noun that is feminine.
« La fin du film est triste. » The end of the movie is sad.
la mort
Feminine. Death is feminine in French. Un mort, with the other gender, is a dead man.
« La mort de son chien la bouleverse. » The death of her dog has devastated her.
la peur
Feminine. An -eur noun naming a feeling, so feminine, like la douleur and la chaleur.
« J'ai peur du noir. » I am afraid of the dark.
le doute
Masculine. Masculine despite the final -e. So are le groupe, le rôle, and le monde.
« J'ai un doute sur la date. » I have a doubt about the date.
It ends in -e, but it is masculine
A final -e makes English speakers reach for la. Every noun below is masculine.
| un problème | a problem |
| un système | a system |
| un thème | a theme |
| un poème | a poem |
| un programme | a program |
| un groupe | a group |
| un rôle | a role |
| un doute | a doubt |
| un âge | an age |
| un magazine | a magazine |
| un exercice | an exercise |
| un espace | a space |
| un incendie | a fire |
| un génie | genius, or a genie |
| un parapluie | an umbrella |
| un squelette | a skeleton |
| un pétale | a petal |
| un astérisque | an asterisk |
| un pamplemousse | a grapefruit |
It looks masculine, but it is feminine
Nothing about these words signals feminine to an English speaker, but every one of them is.
| une erreur | an error |
| une horreur | a horror |
| une rumeur | a rumor |
| une vapeur | steam, a vapor |
| une moustache | a mustache |
| une barbe | a beard |
| une dent | a tooth |
| une image | an image |
| une plage | a beach |
| une clé | a key |
| une souris | a mouse |
| une forêt | a forest |
| une oasis | an oasis |
| une orange | an orange, the fruit |
Person words that ignore the person
Some nouns keep one fixed gender no matter who they describe.
- une personne, une victime
- Always feminine, even about a man. Cette personne, la victime.
- une vedette, une recrue, une sentinelle
- Feminine whoever they refer to.
- un témoin, un mannequin
- Traditionally masculine even for a woman, though la témoin and la mannequin are now common.
- une brute, une crapule
- Feminine for anyone.
If you also know Spanish or Italian
Studying another Romance language can work against you here, because the matching word sometimes carries the opposite gender.
| French | Meaning | The misleading cognate |
|---|---|---|
| le lait | milk | Spanish la leche |
| le sel | salt | Spanish la sal |
| la mer | the sea | Spanish el mar |
| le sang | blood | Spanish la sangre |
| le nez | the nose | Spanish la nariz |
| un légume | a vegetable | Spanish la legumbre |
| la couleur | color | Spanish el color |
| la douleur | pain | Spanish el dolor |
| le miel | honey | Spanish la miel |
Common questions
Why do English speakers get French gender wrong so often?
English dropped grammatical gender centuries ago, so there is no habit to carry over. Every French noun keeps its gender as part of the word, and the words that look most familiar to an English speaker are often the ones with a surprising gender.
Is there a trick for the words that end in -e?
Not a reliable one. A final -e leans feminine for adjectives, and beginners over-apply that to nouns. The fix is to learn the common masculine -e nouns as a set: problème, système, groupe, rôle, musée, and a few dozen more.
Does it matter if I get the gender wrong?
You will usually still be understood, but it marks you as a learner, and with a few nouns it changes the meaning. It also matters for the words around the noun, since articles and adjectives have to agree with the gender.
Want to check a word before you use it? Look it up on the home page.
See also: the complete guide to French noun gender and gender rules by ending.