A whole series of country names have become country names after being adjectives. eXionnaire disagrees with me (though I have never heard of this website before and don’t know how trustworthy it is). Generally, the feminine form is simply the masculine form of the adjective, with an -e at the end. le Belize, le Cambodge, le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Suriname, le Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, these just have to be memorized (although we’ll … English-French Language Training & Translation, When learning French, you usually learn the name of a number of, If you are reading this blog post, you have probably already learnt the names of a few countries. This is because it is an island, une île, so we keep the same gender to talk about it as the gender used for île, i.e. The same goes for Argentina. Don't subscribe There you are! Will it be le Cote d’Ivoire or la Cote d’Ivoire? par Elsa French teacher | Oct 4, 2017 | Articles, Articles A1, Blog | 4 commentaires. In that case, you will have to use the article that matches the gender of the noun: Careful though, here is the tricky part: the common noun is sometimes implied and not part of the name itself: For example, Madagascar is not used with an article but is feminine even if it does not end in -e, but that’s because it is an island –une île– and what is really meant even if not uttered is l’île de Madagascar. Feminine, or masculine? How much does does a 100 dollar roblox gift card get you in robhx? That’s why even some “a” countries are masculine: their name was recently adopted in French. http://www.slate.fr/story/11269/pourquoi-certains-noms-de-pays-sont-ils-masculins-et-dautres-feminins. Replies to my comments These are named after the common noun –état (state), pays (country), île (island, isle)– and the countries in question are a set of various states, lands or islands, hence the use of the plural. Les États-Unis d’Amérique, les Seychelles, les Philippines, les îles Féroé, les Pays-Bas… Same for Nigeria (which was feminine and was masculinized in the 1970s) Botswana, Angola, Liberia or Canada. Remember these 6 countries: Israel having been a man, the country kept the masculine gender. What’s the difference between éminent and imminent? I enjoyed reading this article. You now know what gender are countries of the world in French. Here is a very nice map to visualize genders (click to enlarge) : (1) thanks to Charlotte Pudlowski Editor-in-chief of Slate.fr for the historical details (read her article in French here http://www.slate.fr/story/11269/pourquoi-certains-noms-de-pays-sont-ils-masculins-et-dautres-feminins ). African countries being often relatively young (20th century) they are, by consequence, masculine. Also, certain female names in “-e” are deformations of the feminine in “-ia” or “-ie”: Germany was for example “Allemania” and deformed orally; Spain was formerly “Hispania”. Some regions or countries take their name after a common noun. In the language class, you will learn that the countries ending with -e are feminine (except le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe, le Mexique) and the others are masculine. However, when we talk about Madagascar in French, we don’t use an article in front of its name. I hope this helps . All other countries are masculine: Note : Including possessive adjectives, which I talk about in this article (coming soon!) In general, from the nineteenth century, it is the masculine gender that is more and more used to name new countries. Does Jerry Seinfeld have Parkinson's disease? le Vietnam (masculine noun) - The vietnamese are called 'vietnamien / vietnamienne'. Hello Messan and thank you for your comment. In general, from the nineteenth century, it is the masculine gender that is more and more used to name new countries. Perhaps the fact that the word ended with an ”e” contributed to feminization because culturally the ”e” is feminine. le Nigéria, le Brésil, le Canada, le Japon, le Danemark, le Maroc, le Liban, le Pakistan, le Pérou . I hope this is of help Thanks again for your contribution. Obviously, if there were no exception it would be too easy. Thank you! We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. General rule Is Vietnam masculine or feminine in French? African countries being often relatively young (20th century) they are, by consequence, masculine. Feminine names are the largest category of country names. Here are some examples of other countries whose name is used without an article: Les États-Unis d’Amérique, les Seychelles, les Philippines, les îles Féroé, les Pays-Bas…. Your email address will not be published. When the state was created in the nineteenth century it was called the ‘’République argentine’’ and we have only kept the adjective. Overall, you can remember that European countries are predominantly female and African countries are predominantly male. Go to the Language Nook, my blog in and about English and French! le Royaume Uni, is masculine because the noun royaume (kingdom) is masculine in French. Thanks a lot, very helpful…now I know..merci! As a general rule, countries that end in -e are feminine: Ano ang Imahinasyong guhit na naghahati sa daigdig sa magkaibang araw? This is a headache for non-French speakers: why are some countries male and others female? This corresponds to the Latin “-ia”, which is found in the Roman languages. What is the time signature of the song Atin Cu Pung Singsing? When did organ music become associated with baseball? Ano ang mga kasabihan sa sa aking kababata? One of the major challenges that drives many of our students crazy is that every noun has a gender in French! la France, l’Angleterre, la Chine, l’Argentine, l’Algérie, la Colombie, la Mauritanie, l’Inde Belgium could have been ‘’Belgie’’, since the ethnic name preceded it: there were the Belgians, as there were the Franks (who gave France). In that case, you will have to use the article that matches the gender of the noun: So we just say “Madagascar”. I am not sure at all why the Wiktionary says it is masculine. As I said, Madagascar is not used with an article. Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? Required fields are marked *, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
. le Vietnam (masculine noun) - The vietnamese are called Memo Ano ang pinakamaliit na kontinente sa mundo? The gender of some nouns makes sense (homme [man] is masculine, femme [woman] is feminine) but others don't: the words personne [person] and victime [victim] are always feminine… 6 exceptions: final -e but masculine You now know what gender are countries of the world in French. As a general rule, countries that end in -e are feminine: Of course, since we are talking about the French language, there are a few exceptions. 'vietnamien / vietnamienne'. But it did not become ‘’Belgie’’ because we went through ‘’Gaulle belgique’’. La Réunion doesn’t end in -e but the common noun réunion is feminine, so the country has the same gender, regardless of the final letter. It has a to either masculine (masculin) or feminine (féminin).Globally, there is no specific reason for it; the determination of its gender depends very much on its origin, with the suggestion that the word refers to something which is supposed to be more masculine or feminine. For example, we also say La Côte d’Azur, la côte méditerranéenne etc. There is a whole series that end in “-ie”, they are all feminine. What is the rising action of faith love and dr lazaro? Now that you know if the name of a country is masculine or feminine, make sure you know what preposition to use in front of it. Pagkakaiba ng pagsulat ng ulat at sulating pananaliksik? Now that you know if the name of a country is masculine or feminine, make sure you know what preposition to use in front of it. Country name ending in another letter The Qin Empire was said to have been pronounced “Tsin”, then it became ‘’Chine’’. I’m not sure Madagascar is feminine. On March 21, 1935, Reza Shah Pahlavi published a decree requiring foreign countries to designate the country henceforth. Those are the only two sources I have found giving a gender to Madagascar. Here is a historical explanation that will shed light on this curiosity. For example, before being a state, Israel was above all the name given to Jacob by God in the Torah after they had fought all night. Hello Kiran, in French it is la Côte d’Ivoire, because the noun “côte” is feminine.
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