“Un phoque” is a French masculine noun meaning “a seal,” referring to the marine mammal. Idiomatic expressions Etymology The word “phoque” is derived from the Latin “phoca,” a feminine noun meaning “seal.” Its first surviving recorded usage in French was in 1532, when it was spelled “focque.” By 1573 its spelling had changed to “phoque”…
The French word “la cuiller” means “the spoon.” It can also be spelled “la cuillère,” which is a spelling that more accurately reflects its pronunciation (KWEE YAIR). Both spellings are accepted in modern French. The spelling of “la cuillère” has recently become more popular, however, due to its more logical connection with standard French phonetics…
In French, there are many nouns that have the same sound but different genders and meanings. Here’s a list of some examples: These nouns are homophones, which are words that sound the same but have different meanings and genders.
Unraveling the Distinction: “Le Tour” vs. “La Tour” in French There are a few words (homonyms) in French where the same word with the same spelling exists, but there is one meaning for the masculine version and a completely different meaning for the feminine version. So when speaking or listening, it is important to distinguish…
Some words in French have almost identical spellings, but are actually different words with different meanings. Remember that accents are an important part of correct spelling in French. Accents are not optional extras. They are an integral part of the spelling of each word. A homonym is a word that sounds identical to another word,…
French possessive adjectives are used to describe to whom something or someone belongs. Their English equivalents are words like “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their.” They replace articles They are used instead of an article. Articles are words like “un,” “une,” “le,” “la,” “l’” (l + apostrophe), “de,” “du,” “de la,” “de l’” (de…
French noun gender is a way of categorising all nouns (naming words) in the French language into either the masculine category or the feminine category. English used to have noun genders but they have all been lost, with the exception of ships being traditionally regarded as feminine, as in the phrase, “Bless her and all…
Do you feel like the little girl in this meme? Never knowing the gender of a noun in French? There is in fact a logical reason for the gender of a washing machine in French. A washing machine is a “lave-linge” in French. That word is made up of two individual words: “lave” which comes…
