French Compound Nouns - Gender - Les noms composés et le genre
How to determine the gender of French compound nouns
Compound nouns: Gender | Plurals
French compound nouns are made up of two or more words often connected by hyphens. Figuring out their gender can be a little tricky; however, the majority of compound nouns are masculine, so when in doubt you can always fall back on that. But of course it's better to know the gender of the words you're using, so here are some rules that can help you to determine the gender of compound nouns.
| I. Noun + noun | ||
| Gender matches that of the primary (more important) noun | ||
| un chou-fleur | cauliflower | |
| un oiseau-mouche | hummingbird | |
| une station-service | service station | |
| une pause-café | coffee break | |
| II. Adjective, adverb, preposition, or verb + noun | ||
| Gender matches that of the noun | ||
| un après-midi | afternoon | |
| un coffre-fort | safe | |
| un couvre-lit | bedspread | |
| un gratte-ciel | skyscraper | |
| un haut-parleur | loudspeaker | |
| un pour-cent | percent | |
| une chauve-souris | bat | |
| une demi-heure* | half hour | |
| une grand-mère* | grandmother | |
| *Note that the adjectives are invariable | ||
| III. Adjective + adjective | ||
| Gender matches that of the adjectives | ||
| un sourd-muet | deaf mute | |
| une douce-amère | bittersweet, woody nightshade | |
| IV. Exceptions to above | ||
| un brise-glace | ice breaker | |
| un en-tête | heading | |
| un garde-pêche | fish [and game] warden | |
| un porte-monnaie | wallet, coin purse | |
| un rouge-gorge | robin | |
| un tête-à-tête | private conversation | |
| V. The prefix mi- | ||
| Always feminine | ||
| la mi-janvier | mid-January | |
| la mi-été | mid-summer | |
| la mi-temps | (sports) half-time | |
| One exception: mi-temps (part-time work) is masculine. | ||
| VI. Other combinations (adverb + past participle or verb; verb + verb) | ||
| Usually masculine | ||
| un nouveau-né | newborn | |
| un bien-aimé | beloved | |
| un laissez-passer | pass | |
| le va-et-vient | comings and goings | |
| French gender Plurals of compound nouns |
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