1. Notes le 13 septembre Nouns and Grammatical Gender
All nouns in French are either grammatically masculine or feminine.

2. Nouns that refer to males are normally masculine
Nouns that refer to males are normally masculine. Nouns that refer to females are generally feminine.

3. Many nouns have no natural gender
Many nouns have no natural gender. They are either masculine or feminine .

4. Masculine nouns are often accompanied by the definite article le
Masculine nouns are often accompanied by the definite article le. It means the.
le livre the book

5. Feminine nouns are often accompanied by the definite article la
Feminine nouns are often accompanied by the definite article la. It also means the.
la table the table

6. Le and la become l’ before a noun that begins with a vowel or silent h.
l’acteur the actor l’actrice the actress l’homme the man

7. When le, la and l’ are pluralized, they all become les.
le livre (the book)  les livres (the books)
la table (the table)  les tables (the tables)
l’homme (the man)  les hommes (the men)

8. To make a noun plural you generally add an –s to the word
To make a noun plural you generally add an –s to the word. If a word ends in –al, drop the –al and add –aux. If a noun ends in –eau, add –x to the end of the word.

9. un livre a book une table a table
The words un and une are indefinite articles. They both mean a.
un livre a book une table a table
Un is the masculine indefinite article.
Une is the feminine indefinite article.

10. The plural indefinite article is des. It means some.
des problèmes some problems des amis some friends
Des is used with masculine and feminine nouns.

11. The expression il y a means there is/are.
Il y a un animal là-bas. There’s an animal over there.
Il y a des animaux là-bas. There are some animals over there.

12. When you want to ask what something is, use the following expressions: