Today we’ll be talking about jobs in French, and in particular about the masculine and feminine names of jobs. As you know, in English the difference is not always clear. So, a TEACHER may be both a male teacher and a female teacher. In some cases, however, the forms are differentiated, like for example ACTOR and ACTRESS or WAITER and WAITRESS. By the way, I have an article on my Prospero English blog on jobs in English. Feel free to check it out.
In French the differences between masculine and feminine forms are a rule.
Actually, a set of rules. There are a couple ways to turn masculine job names into feminine ones. Let’s have a look at the most common options.
The Ending -E
So, as I just mentioned, the feminine names of jobs in French are usually made from the masculine forms. The easiest way to do it is by adding the ending -E. This ending changes the pronunciation. Here are some examples of such nouns.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| l’avocat | l’avocate | lawyer |
| le président | la présidente | president |
| l’enseignant | l’enseignante | instructor, teacher |
Jobs Ending in -ER
If the masculine form ends in –ER, we add also the ending -E as in the examples above, but additionally an accent appears above the E that stands before the R.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| l’infimier | l’infirmière | nurse |
| le cuisinier | la cuisinière | cook |
Jobs Ending in -EN
If the masculine form ends in –EN, the ending changes to –ENNE and it’s no longer a nasal sound.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| le pharmacien | la pharmacienne | pharmacist |
| l’informaticien | l’informaticienne | computer specialist |
| l’électricien | l’électricienne | electrician |
| le mécanicien | la mécanicienne | mechanic |
Jobs Ending in -EUR
Nouns that end in –EUR in masculine gender, usually end in –EUSE in feminine gender.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| le danseur | la danseuse | dancer |
| le vendeur | la vendeuse | salesman/ saleswoman |
| le chanteur | la chanteuse | singer |
| le coiffeur | la coiffeuse | hairdresser |
| le serveur | la serveuse | waiter / waitress |
Jobs Ending in -TEUR
But if they end in –TEUR, the feminine ending is usually –TRICE.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| l’acteur | l’actrice | actor / actress |
| le directeur | la directrice | director |
| le rédacteur | la rédactrice | editor |
| le conducteur | la conductrice | driver |
No Distinctive Ending in Feminine Gender
Sometimes there isn’t any distinctive ending in feminine gender. In such cases we can either add the noun FEMME if we want to create the feminine form or just use the same form as in masculine gender, but with the feminine article. Here are some examples of the former:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| le médecin | la femme médecin | doctor |
| l’écrivain | la femme écrivain | writer |
| le professeur | la femme professeur | teacher |
And here are some examples of the latter:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MEANING |
| le journaliste | la journaliste | journalist |
| l’artiste | l’artiste | artist |
| le secrétaire | la secrétaire | secretary |
INFO
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EXERCISE
And now, in the comments below, write other examples of jobs in French that have the same or different forms in masculine and feminine gender.