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Grammar · A1–B1

French noun gender and article checker

Check le, la, l’, un and une for common French nouns. See masculine and feminine meanings, irregular plurals and h aspiré exceptions, then practice.

  1. Look up a French noun

  2. Compare its articles and meanings

  3. Practice the gender

Enter a singular or listed plural, with or without an article. 158 curated noun meanings; exact accents matter.

More than one gender is possible. Choose the meaning that fits your sentence.

Masculine · book

le livre

un livre · les livres

Feminine · pound (weight or currency)

la livre

une livre · les livres

Practice noun gender

French noun gender1 / 13

livre (book): masculine or feminine?

Le, la, l’ or les?

Use le with a masculine singular noun and la with a feminine singular noun. Both become l’ before a vowel sound or h muet. L’ alone therefore does not tell you gender: l’hôtel is masculine, l’école feminine. Les is used with plural nouns of either gender.

Learn the article with the meaning

Un and une make gender visible even where the definite article elides: un arbre, une image. A noun’s grammatical gender does not necessarily describe a person: une personne can refer to anyone. Meanings matter too: le livre is a book, la livre a pound; le tour is a turn or tour, la tour a tower.

Can an ending tell me the gender?

Endings are clues, not guarantees. Many words ending in -tion are feminine, but common masculine nouns such as problème and musée end in written e. Memorize a short phrase with the article rather than guessing from spelling.

What about du, de la and de l’?

Partitive articles describe an unspecified amount: du pain, de la soupe, de l’eau. After most negative constructions they become de or d’: je n’ai pas de pain. Selecting an article for a full sentence depends on meaning and syntax; this tool shows noun forms, not a complete sentence correction.

References: French articles · Livre in Larousse.

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