Did you know that French country names have a gender too? How can you tell whether they are masculine or feminine? Find out the rules behind saying where you’re at or where you’re from. After listening to this episode, French country names will have no more secret for you! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode La France, la Belgique, la Russie, la Chine, l’Italie, l’Australie, l’Inde Le Canada, le Japon, le Maroc, le Chili, l’Iran, l’Equateur Le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Zambèze, le Zimbabwe Les Philippines, les Seychelles, les Iles Marquises Cuba, Haïti, … Read More →
FYW 113 : Some Spelling Rules for French Feminine Words Ending With the /e/ Sound
Here are a few tips on how to write French feminine words ending with the /e/ sound: some French feminine words are spelled with "_ée" while others simply end with "é". Learn the spelling rules to get it right every time and improve your French written skills! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode la vallée, la fée, l'allée, une année, une soirée, une bouée l'acné, la clé, la psyché la santé, la méchanceté, l'amitié, la finalité, la liberté, la beauté, la volonté. la dictée, la jetée, la montée, la nuitée, la pâtée, la portée une brouettée, une … Read More →
FYW 110 : Animal Names in French
Here's an interesting question I got from a student of French: “I understand that animal names in French are generally masculine and feminine (eg. une girafe) but if I am talking about a male girafe, can I say ‘un girafe’? Now, dear listener, how would you answer this question? Listen to this episode to find out! LINKS and RESOURCES "French Animal Names: What to Call Your Dog if it’s a Female" My article: " Masculine or Feminine? Telling the Gender of French Nouns" French Your Way Podcast, Episode 32: "How to Tell if a French Noun is Masculine or Feminine (Part 1)" French Your … Read More →
Masculine or Feminine? Telling the Gender of French Nouns
New learners of French are often unsettled or scared when they find out –very early- that every noun had a gender: masculine or feminine. I hear you say: How to know whether a word is masculine or feminine? How the hell am I supposed to tell the gender of French nouns, to guess that the word” telephone” is masculine whereas the word “television” is feminine?? Well, the bad news is that you’ll need to learn/memorise it. And therefore you’ll need to set good learning habits from the start by memorising the gender of French nouns as part as your vocabulary! The good news (because there’s … Read More →
FYW 033 : How to Tell if a French Noun is Masculine or Feminine (Part 2)
This is the second part about how you can tell whether a noun is masculine or feminine in French! (For the first part, listen to French Your Way Podcast, episode 32). In last week’s episode, I’ve ran you through groups of words/categories which are generally masculine or feminine (eg: numbers, names of colours, trees, metals, etc were most often masculine nouns); today the categories we’ll see will be about the spelling of the words. The last letter of a French word can indeed give you a clue about its gender! I’ve also published an article about the gender of French words on my website … Read More →
FYW 032 : How to Tell if a French Noun is Masculine or Feminine (Part 1)
New learners of French are often unsettled or scared when they find out that every French noun has a gender: it is either masculine or feminine. How to know whether a word is masculine or feminine in French? You need to learn it as part as the vocabulary and therefore create good learning habits from the start, so you build on strong bases. Plus, here are tips on how you can predict the gender of a word ! In this episode, I’ll talk about categories of nouns which tend to be either mostly masculine or mostly feminine. This should greatly help you! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words … Read More →
FYW 030 : How to say Fruit and Fruit Trees in French
This short episode is a 2 in 1 episode: By adding extra words to your vocabulary, you will also (and mostly) brush up or add to your existing knowledge of some basic vocab : names of fruits. Just as in English where you need the word “apple” to make the word “apple tree” or “cherry” to make “cherry” tree, you need to know the name of the fruit in French to name the tree (or plant) it grows on. So, test yourself! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Une orange, un oranger = an orange, an orange tree Une peche, un pecher = a peach, a peach tree Une noix, un … Read More →
Irregular French Plurals : Masculine Words Ending in “_al”
Here is a common mistake I see among students of all levels of French, so I thought this short article would be useful, whether it is only a reminder or new to you ;-) Nouns Nouns ending in “_al” are masculine. Ex: un journal (= a newspaper) un cheval (= a horse) un animal un festival un carnaval, etc. These nouns have an irregular French plural.The plural form of these masculine nouns is generally “_aux”. Ex: un journal → des journaux un cheval → des chevaux un animal → des animaux There are a few exceptions of course : bal (= ball, dance), carnaval, chacal (= jackal, wild … Read More →