LES NOMS 

GENDER OF NOUNS

MASCULINE FEMININE

un livre une maison

(a book) (a house)

le journal la fleur
(the newspaper) (the flower)

 In French we differentiate masculine and feminine nouns. We also use different

articles and different adjectives for them. 

 Country names take always article.

 If they end in -e they are feminine (except for le Mexique).

le Portugal la France
le Brésil l'Espagne
le Mexique l'Argentine

 The feminine is formed in general by adding -e to the masculine form, and in some
cases other letters or accents are also added.
 There are some nouns with totally different forms for the masculine and the
feminine.
 Some professions are used only in the masculine form.

un ami une amie

(a friend) (a female friend)

un rival une rivale

(a rival) (a female rival)
 un acteur une actrice
(an actor) (an actress)

un musicien une musicienne

(a musician) (a female musician)

un boulanger une boulangère 

(a baker) (a female baker)

le détective la détective
(the detective) (the female detective)

le professeur la professeur
(the teacher) (the female teacher)

PLURAL OF NOUNS

SINGULAR PLURAL

un livre des livres

(a book) (books)

 The plural is formed in general by adding -s to the singular form.

 Some nouns have special plural forms, according to their ending:
-eau becomes -eaux
-al becomes -aux
-s stays the same -s
-z stays the same -z
 Some nouns do not have singular form.
le château les châteaux
(the castle) (the castles)

le cheval les chevaux

(the horse) (the horses)

le bus les bus

(the bus) (the buses)

le nez les nez

(the nose) (the noses)

les gens
 
(the people)