Nouns and determiners

Noun – word that names people, object, place or thing.

Determiner – small word in front. a/ the/ this/ my/ his….

Masculine and feminine All French nouns are either masculine or

feminine. The determiner can help you work out if the noun is (m) or (f)

English M F PL

a/ an/ some Un billet Une gare Des billets

the Le tableau La classe Les enfants

Use l’ in front of words that start with a vowel or a silent “h”

e.g. l’hôtel l’armoire

DECIDE! Which determiner should you use?

The pen (m) A church (f) Some books (pl) The table (f) A pen (m) The children (pl) An owl The owl

Le stylo Une église Des livres La table Un stylo Les enfants Un hibou L’hibou

HINT! Sometimes you have to go with gut instinct, but there are some clues as to a noun’s gender when you look at the

ENDING! Feminine Endings

- ade Une limonade

-aison Une maison

-ce La race

-tion/ sion Une manifestation

- tié/ité/ té La réalité

-ie/ rie Une galerie

-ise La maîtrise

-itude L’attitude

-esse Une princesse

-ette Une recette

-ienne La Parisienne

-ère La première

-ée Une idée

-ure Une fissure

Masculine Endings

-age Le tirage

-at Le résultat

-eau Le tablaeu

-éen Un lycéen

-ème Le problème

-ien Le soutien

-ier Un chemisier

-ment Un appartement

-ing Le shopping

-isme Le tourisme

Plurals of nouns

Most French nouns add –s to make them plural, just as in English:

Le copain → les copains

Some nouns do not follow this regular pattern…

If they end in –s, -x, or –z they usually stay the same.

Le bras → les bras

Le prix → les prix

Le nez → les nez

Nouns ending in – eau, or –eu add X

Un château → des châteaux

Un jeu → des jeux

Nouns ending in –al usually change to –aux

Un animal → des animaux

A few nouns change completely

Un oeil → des yeux

When to use this, that, these and those…

When you want to refer to a specific noun or thing you might want to say..

This coat That pair of shoes Those earrings These people

We must know the gender of the thing we are talking about..

singular plural

M Ce/ cet * Ces

F Cette Ces

ENG This/ that these/ those

*Cet is used before masculine singular words that begin

with a vowel or a silent “h”

À toi…decide the gender then which determiner to use…

These shoes That girl That shop Those ideas This bread That hotel These chairs Those computers

Ces chaussures Cette fille Ce magasin Ces idées Ce pain Cet hôtel Ces chaises Ces ordinateurs

To distinguish more clearly between this and that and these and those, add – ci or –là after the noun

J’aime cette chemise-ci mais je n’aime pas cette chemise-là

I like this shirt here but I don’t like that shirt there.