1. Basic French for Travellers
Grammar 1 – Introduction to Gender

2. What is Grammar?
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Grammar is the study of how language fits together.
Many find it scary… It doesn’t have to be!
Good grammar is essential to avoid embarrassing mistakes.
© P. Wouters 2014

3. What is Gender?
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One of the most important things to understand in French.
Common to many languages around the world, particularly those
derived from Latin (like French, Spanish, Italian, etc.)
In French, each noun is either masculine or feminine.
Could be odd to English speakers as gender has virtually disappeared
from English.
© P. Wouters 2014

4. Masculine and Feminine
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As stated, each noun in French is
either masculine or feminine.
How do you know which is which?
– You need to study the gender
together with the noun
– Use dictionaries
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Right now, the most important thing
to remember is that gender is of
extreme importance: adjectives
(describing words such as beautiful,
ugly,…) will adjust their form
depending on the gender of the
noun they describe.
© P. Wouters 2014

5. An Example
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Here is an example taken from the video you watched. Jean describes
himself. He says he is French. The word français is an adjective
describing Jean:
© P. Wouters 2014

6. An Example (cont.)
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Jean uses the masculine form of the word French. If we replace Jean
with his adoring wife, Antoinette, we get a different result… Note the
extra –e at the end of the word française. This is the feminine form
of the word French, because Antoinette is describing herself, and she
is female.
© P. Wouters 2014

7. An Example (cont.)
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Not much difference? Perhaps, but of the essence!
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To the French, the –e at the end of the word française makes a huge
difference! In fact, they often find it rather insulting if you use the
wrong gender agreement.
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Not only does the spelling change, so does the pronunciation.
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Go to the supplementary material for this lecture and download the
video titled “Video 2”. This one shows Antoinette introducing herself.
Apologies for the fact that Antoinette has a rather masculine voice. I
unfortunately don’t have a female colleague available to do the female
voice recordings. Pay extra careful attention to the change in
pronunciation in the word française.
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For now, be aware of this. More gender “secrets” in lessons to come…
© P. Wouters 2014

8. A Challenge...
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I now want to challenge you to take up the following task:
1. Start a new document in your preferred cloud service, titled Udemy Travel French –
Lecture 4. If you haven't set up a cloud service, then you have probably not read the all
important introductory document at the start of this course. If that is the case, I would
really love it if you went and had a look at it (Lecture 2). If you did set it up, please
continue.
2. Type your email address at the top of the page in your document so I can send
feedback.
3. Write 3 sentences about yourself using the words and expressions learnt in the video in
Lecture 3:
1. Say your name.
2. Say where you live (city). Don’t yet translate the name of your city into French. Just leave it in
English for now. Some cities have French equivalents, others don't. For now, that doesn't matter.
3. Say that you are French and ensure you use the correct form of the adjective, as discussed in
this grammar lecture. I know you are probably not French or you wouldn't be here, but you
simply haven't learnt any other nationalities yet, so just stick to French.
4. Share your document with me. Simply find the sharing option in your cloud service,
enter my email address (udemywou@gmail.com) and bingo! Done. For those who are
super clever with these things, if you give me editing rights over your shared document,
I can give you some feedback straight into your document.
© P. Wouters 2014

9. Thank you