Generally masculine

Nouns referring to male people.

A handful of nouns are masculine, whatever the gender of the person they refer to,
e.g.: amateur, auteur, tmoin, vainqueur, voyou plus certain job titles.
Certain nouns referring to animals that can refer to only the male of the species. For
example: talon (stallion), cerf (stag), matou (tomcat).
Masculine nouns that are 'generic' terms and can refer to either a male or female of
the species. For example, le cheval can refer to either a male or female horse.
Names of towns. Other place names (departments, rivers, countries) not ending in -e.
Common exceptions: le Mexique, le Combodge, le Rhne, le Finistre (French
department), le Zimbabwe (-e pronounced).
Nouns ending in:

Generally feminine
Nouns referring to female people.
These are feminine, whatever the gender of the
person: personne, victime, recrue(recruit), connaissance (acquaintance).
Certain nouns referring to animals that can refer to only the female of the species.
For example: chatte (female cat), chienne (bitch), louve (she-wolf).
Feminine nouns that are 'generic' terms and can refer to either male or female of
the species. For example, la souris can refer to either a male or female mouse.
Place names ending in -e.
Common exception: la Franche-Comt (French department). Sometimes town
names, especially if they look or sound feminine (e.g. Marseilles ending in -es),
can be treated as feminine. This is quite rare, though.
Nouns ending in:

-age
-ment
-il, -ail, -eil, -ueil
- (but not -t)
-eau and -ou
-me, -ge
-i, -at, -et and -ot
-er
-oir
-isme
-ing
-ard
Words ending in other consonants (in the spelling).

Nouns ending in -eur, generally derived from a verb, denoting people or machines
carrying out an activity: aspirateur, facteur, ordinateur
Principal exceptions (look feminine but actually
masculine): cimetire,episode, espace, intervalle, lyce, magazine, mille, muse,r
verbre, silence, squelette, stade
Compound nouns of the form verb-noun: porte-monnaie, pare-brise, tire-bouchon.

-tion, -sion and -son

-ure
-ude, -ade
-e
-t
-ire
Consonant followed by -ie
-euse
-ance, -ence
Most other endings consisting of Vowel + Consonant + e: -ine, -ise, alle, -elle, -esse, -ette etc

Figurative nouns ending in -eur, usually derived from an

adjective: rougeur, largeur,pleur, couleur, horreur, rumeur
Principal exceptions (look masculine but actually
feminine): cage, eau, image, merci,page, peau, plage
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