DIRECTION Do you know where you're going and how to get there?

This French vocabulary will help you give and understand directions. O se trouve... / O est... ? Where is the...? la banque bank le W.C. bathroom l'glise (f) church l'picerie (f) grocery store l'hpital (m) hospital l'htel hotel le muse museum le bureau de change money exchange le cinma movie theater le parc park le commissariat police station la poste post office le restaurant restaurant l'cole (f) school le thtre theater C'est... / Il est... gauche droite tout droit ct de devant derrire en haut en bas prs (de) loin (de) au nord au sud l'est l'ouest It's... to/on the left to/on the right straight (ahead) next to in front of in back of, behind up down near (to) far (from) to the north to the south to the east to the west

French nouns are always masculine or feminine, and you usually can't determine the gender just by looking at the word or thinking about what it means. While there are some tendencies in the gender of French nouns see the table below - there are always exceptions. Please don't use these patterns as a way to avoid learning the genders of nouns - just learn each word as gender + noun and then you'll know them forever. Nearly all French nouns have different forms for singular and plural. In addition, many nouns that refer to people and animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. Please go on to the next page of this lesson to learn how to make French nouns feminine and plural. French Gender Patterns Ending is usually -age masculine Exceptions: une cage, une image, une nage, une page, une plage, une rage -eau masculine Exceptions: l'eau, la peau -e feminine Exceptions: un lyce, un muse -ion feminine Exceptions: un avion, un bastion, billion, un million, un lion, un scion -t feminine Exceptions: un comit, un invit Like English nouns, nearly all French nouns have different forms for singular and plural. In addition, many French nouns that refer to people and animals have both a masculine and a feminine form, which means there can be up to four forms of each noun. The different forms for nouns depend mostly on the final letter(s) of the default form of the noun, which is the masculine singular. Most French nouns add E for feminine and S for plural. This rule applies to nouns that end in most consonants as well as all vowels except the unaccented E: Noun: avocat (lawyer) Masculine singular avocat Feminine singular avocate Masculine plural avocats Feminine plural avocates Noun: ami (friend) Masculine singular ami Feminine singular amie Masculine plural amis Feminine plural amies Noun: invit (guest) Masculine singular invit Feminine singular invite Masculine plural invits Feminine plural invites When the masculine singular noun ends in an unaccented E, there is no difference between the masculine and feminine forms: Noun: touriste (tourist) Masculine singular touriste Feminine singular touriste Masculine plural touristes

Feminine plural touristes When a noun ends in S, X, or Z there is no difference between the singular and plural forms: Noun: le fils (son) Masculine singular le fils Masculine plural les fils Noun: le gaz (gas) Masculine singular le gaz Masculine plural les gaz While most French nouns fit into one of the above categories, there are still quite a few that haveirregular feminine forms and/or irregular plurals. Notes

These rules are similar for making adjectives feminine and plural The rules for making nouns feminine apply only to people and some animals. They do not apply to objects, which have only one form: masculine or feminine.

Compound nouns have their own gender and plural rules. Most French nouns become feminine according to regular patterns, but there are a number of irregular nouns, based on the final letter(s) of the masculine singular noun. Nouns that end in a vowel plus L, N, or T usually become feminine by doubling the consonant before adding E. Ending: en > enne Noun: le gardien (guard) Masculine singular le gardien Feminine singular la gardienne Masculine plural les gardiens Feminine plural les gardiennes Ending: el > elle Noun: le colonel (colonel) Masculine singular le colonel Feminine singular la colonelle Masculine plural les colonels Feminine plural les colonelles Nouns that end in er need a grave accent: Ending: er > re Noun: le boulanger (baker) Masculine singular le boulanger Feminine singular la boulangre Masculine plural les boulangers Feminine plural les boulangres The final letters eur have two possible irregular feminine endings: Ending: eur > euse Noun: un danseur (dancer) Masculine singular un danseur Feminine singular une danseuse Masculine plural des danseurs

Feminine plural des danseuses Ending: eur > rice Noun: un acteur (actor) Masculine singular un acteur Feminine singular une actrice Masculine plural des acteurs Feminine plural des actrices Notes

These rules are similar for making adjectives feminine The rules for making nouns feminine apply only to people and some animals. They do not apply to objects, which have only one form: masculine or feminine.

Compound nouns have their own gender rules. Most French nouns become plural according to regular patterns, but there are a number of irregular nouns, based on the final letter(s) of the singular noun. The endings al and ail change to aux in the plural: Noun: un cheval (horse) Masculine singular un cheval Masculine plural des chevaux Noun: un travail (task, job) Masculine singular un travail Masculine plural des travaux The endings au, eau, and eu take an X for plural: Noun: un tuyau (pipe, tip) Masculine singular un tuyau Masculine plural des tuyaux Noun: un chteau (castle) Masculine singular un chteau Masculine plural des chteaux Noun: un feu (fire) Masculine singular un feu Masculine plural des feux Notes

These rules are similar for making adjectives plural Compound nouns have their own plural rules.