Family Members & Common Nouns
Core vocabulary: family, body parts, home, food: with grammatical gender.
Every Noun Has a Gender: Every French noun is masculine (le (the (m.)), un (a (m.))) or feminine (la (the (f.)), une (a (f.))), even objects and ideas, not just people and animals. Gender is a grammatical property, not biological sex
Elision Before a Vowel: Before a singular noun starting with a vowel sound or a silent H, le and la both shrink to l'. Practice: l'ami (the friend (m.)), l'amie (the friend (f.)), l'hôtel (the hotel), l'heure (the hour). Exception: the plural les never elides: les amis (the friends)
Common mistake: guessing gender based on the word's meaning or its English translation. la masculinité (masculinity) is feminine! le féminisme (feminism) is masculine! Gender is grammatical, not semantic
- J'ai une sœur et deux frères. — I have a sister and two brothers.
- Ma mère travaille dans une école. — My mother works in a school.
- Il y a du lait dans le frigo. — There is milk in the fridge.