Le or La
- Date of publication: 2010
- Paperback ISBN-13: ISBN: 978 185341 146 5 paperback only
- Pages: 28
- Dimensions: 148 x 105 mm, saddle-stitched
- Weight: 25 grammes
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Synopsis
Is that French noun masculine or feminine?
Do you say LE or LA? MON or MA? BLANC or BLANCHE? One of the major problems in studying French is learning and remembering the genders of nouns. Because all articles, pronouns and adjectives must agree with their noun, it is absolutely essential to get the gender right.
Most French grammars outline a few basic rules, but insist that the only satisfactory way to avoid mistakes is by memorising the gender when you learn each word.
There is no need for this. Most of the French nouns you are likely to use conform to simple rules, or are easily remembered exceptions. There is one tricky area, however, but in general the rules will enable you to speak the language with more confidence and fluency.
The author has analysed quite complicated articles written in French and found that over ninety per cent of the nouns used were covered by the rules provided here. That is proof enough that this information is worth having.
The rules are laid out as simply as possible, and you are given Key words that will help you to remember each rule. There are only 24 of them – fewer than the letters of the alphabet.
This little book is very popular among students, and intriguingly among native French people many of whom are teaching their language in English-speaking institutions.
Contents
MASCULINE
Nouns ending in a consonant
Nouns ending in -MENT
Nouns ending in -ACLE, -AGE, -ÈGE, -ÈME, -ASME, -ISME
Nouns ending in -EAU
Nouns ending in -I, -A, -O, -U
Seasons, days, directions, metals, trees, measures, infinitives used as nouns, English words
FEMININE
Nouns ending in a vowel +E
Nouns ending in a double consonant +E
Nouns ending in -ISE
Nouns ending in -ANCE (-ENCE, -ENSE), -IÈRE, -OIRE
Nouns ending in -ACE, -ADE, -UDE, -URE
Nouns ending in -ION, -SON
Arts, sciences and trades
Nouns ending in -TÉ
Nouns ending in -EUR
Countries and regions ending in -E
Other nouns ending in -E
Words with different meanings according to gender
Typical words with masculine and feminine versions
Key words to help memorize the rules
How to develop a huge vocabulary based on English words
Readership
Students of French at all levels of schooling; adults in evening or extension classes.
Reviews
‘No more guess-work with the gender of French nouns! Deceptively small in size, this book is a BIG help for students of the French language, offering them clear, well-tested and easy to remember rules for using le or la with confidence; and to think it took an Englishman to unravel the mystery of feminine and masculine nouns …’
Catherine Pinchetti, teacher of French as a Foreign Language, French Communication, Cambridge, UK.
Author / Compiler
Richard Gordon-Freeman
Richard Gordon-Freeman was born in 1938 and educated at Mill Hill School. Afterwards he studied in Germany for a year and a half then joined the advertising agency, C.D. Notley, in London, where, in the company of many established poets, he began writing poetry himself. Advertising took him to the Far East for two years after which he returned to the UK and became a freelance writer, mostly providing scripts for documentary films. This work led him to establish his own film-production company based at Shepperton Studios. After several years in the business, he now pursues a variety of interests: writing, painting and the study of Stone and Bronze Age cultures of western Europe.
Distribution
Direct from the Publisher; in London - The European Bookshop; Foyles, Charing Cross Road; also Heffers, Cambridge; Gardners Books, Eastbourne (wholesaler).
