Grade by Grade
C. Reading / D. Writing · Reading and Writing in French: First Steps

Un ou une? Le, la, les: Masculine, Feminine and Plural

D2.3 C1.2 C1.3About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain that every French noun is masculine or feminine.
  • I can use un and le with masculine words, and une and la with feminine words.
  • I can use l' before a vowel and les or des for more than one.
  • I can make most nouns plural by adding a silent s.

Words to know

un nom
A noun: a person, place, animal or thing.
masculin
Masculine. Masculine nouns use un and le.
féminin
Feminine. Feminine nouns use une and la.
singulier
Singular: only one.
pluriel
Plural: more than one.
article
A little word before a noun, like un, une, le, la, les, des.

Why is a table a "she"?

In English, we say a book and a table. In French, every noun belongs to one of two groups: masculin or féminin.

  • un livre (a book) is masculine.
  • une table (a table) is feminine.

A table is not a girl and a book is not a boy! It is just the word's group, like two teams. You learn the team by learning the little word in front: always learn une table, not just table.

A blue book, a yellow pencil, a wooden ruler, a pink eraser and a red apple laid out on a desk.
Classroom things belong to two teams: un livre and un crayon are masculine; une règle, une gomme and une pomme are feminine. AI-generated image
MasculineFemininePlural (more than one)
a / an / someununedes
thelelales
the, before a vowel or silent hl'l'les
French articles. Les and des work for both masculine and feminine.
Masculine (un / le)Feminine (une / la)
un livre (book) → le livreune table (table) → la table
un crayon (pencil) → le crayonune règle (ruler) → la règle
un chien (dog) → le chienune maison (house) → la maison
un sac à dos (backpack) → le sac à dosune pomme (apple) → la pomme
un arbre (tree) → l'arbreune école (school) → l'école
Learn each noun with its article.

More than one: the plural

To talk about more than one, use les (the) or des (some), and usually add -s to the noun. The s is silent!

  • le crayon → les crayons
  • une pomme → des pommes

Listen: le crayon and les crayons sound almost the same. The article tells your ears it is plural: luh vs lay.

Special plural: words ending in -eau add -x: un gâteau → des gâteaux, un oiseau → des oiseaux, un chapeau (hat) → des chapeaux.

le crayonles crayonsadd -s: silent!une pommedes pommesune / un → desun gâteaudes gâteaux-eau adds -xonemore than one
To make a plural, change the article (les or des) and add -s. Nouns ending in -eau add -x.
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des pommes (some apples) and un livre (a book)
Worked example

Let's choose the right article

Fill in un or une, then le or la: ___ maison, ___ crayon.

  1. Look up each noun with its article (in the table or a dictionary).
  2. maison is feminine: une maison → la maison.
  3. crayon is masculine: un crayon → le crayon.

une maison / la maison and un crayon / le crayon

Worked example

Let's make it plural

Make these plural: le chien, une règle, l'arbre, un gâteau.

  1. le becomes les; un and une become des; l' becomes les.
  2. Add -s to most nouns: chiens, règles, arbres.
  3. A noun ending in -eau adds -x: gâteaux.

les chiens, des règles, les arbres, des gâteaux

A helpful clue (not a rule!)

Many nouns that end in -e are feminine: une table, une pomme, une règle. But not all of them: un livre, un arbre! When in doubt, look it up. A French dictionary shows n.m. (masculine noun) or n.f. (feminine noun).

Hands-on activity

Masculine and feminine house hunt

You need: sticky notes (or small papers and tape), a pencil, a French-English dictionary or a dictionary website with a grown-up.

  1. Make 8 labels. Use two colours of paper if you can: one colour for masculine and one for feminine. (Or draw a square for masculine and a circle for feminine.)
  2. Label things in your home: la porte (door), la fenêtre (window), la table, le lit (bed), le livre, la chaise (chair), le frigo (fridge), la lampe (lamp).
  3. Read each label out loud as you walk by it.
  4. Now make one label plural: put 2 books together and write les livres.
  5. Challenge: find 2 more objects and look up whether they are masculine or feminine.
Just for fun

Funny but true: un vélo and une bicyclette are the very same bike, but one is masculine and one is feminine. Same bike, different team!

Your turn

1

Is une pomme masculine or feminine?

2

Fill in le or la: ___ chien.

3

Fill in le or la: ___ table.

4

Why do we write l'école and not la école?

5

Make it plural: un crayon.

6

Make it plural: la maison.

7

Make it plural: un oiseau.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does un mean?

2

What does les mean?

3

Is un livre masculine or feminine?

4

Fill in un or une: ___ règle.

5

Is the s in les crayons said out loud?

More practice: on your own

1

Change une to la, and un to le: un sac à dos, une maison.

2

Write the tree in French. Explain.

3

Make plural: le gâteau and la pomme.

4

A dictionary says: chaise, n.f. Write a chair.

5

Read: J'ai des crayons et une règle. How many rulers? More than one pencil?

Challenge

1

Find the mistake and fix it: Il y a un pomme et les livre.

2

le crayon and les crayons sound almost the same. How can a listener tell which one you mean?

3

Write a list of 3 school supplies with articles, at least one masculine, one feminine and one plural.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which article goes with maison (feminine)?

2.

What is the plural of le livre?

3.

Which is correct?

4.

What is the plural of un gâteau?

5.

What does des mean?

6.

What does n.m. mean in a dictionary?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grammatical gender is new for English speakers. The curriculum asks Grade 4 students to improve their writing using a few conventions of written French (D2.3), and to understand and read texts with familiar words (C1.2, C1.3). Knowing un/une and le/la/les is the foundation for correct sentences and for adjective agreement in the next lesson.

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking gender is about boys and girls. Explain it is just a word group, like two teams.
  • Learning nouns without their articles. Always say and write une table, not table.
  • Forgetting the plural -s because it is silent. Remind your child: "You can't hear it, but you must write it."
  • Over-trusting the -e clue. It helps but has exceptions (un livre).

At home: Labelling the house with sticky notes is a classic, effective activity. Leave them up for a week.