In our previous lesson we learned that all French nouns have a gender, and that it is up to the speaker to remember whether a word is masculine or feminine. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the gender of nouns referring to humans, which is usually predictable, although occasionally some situations require making difficult choices.

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For the most part, assigning gender to nouns referring to people is straightforward, as it coincides with the gender of the person. For example, you would expect the word frère (brother) to be masculine, and sœur (sister) to be feminine. 

We also learned that masculine nouns are typically introduced by un/le (a/the), as in un frère (a brother):

Il est comme un grand frère pour moi.

He's like a big brother to me.

Caption 40, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai escroqué mon assurance ! - Part 1

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Feminine nouns are preceded by une/la (a/the), as in une sœur (a sister):

Hé Sam! Et peut-être qu'elle a une amie ou une sœur...

Hey Sam! And maybe she has a friend or a sister...

Caption 39, Extr@ - Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 3

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It is also possible to introduce a noun with other little words or determiners, in addition to the articles un/une and le/la mentioned above. In the example below, to express her feelings toward her deceased father, the daughter uses various turns of phrase: mon père (my father), un père (a father), l’image du père idéal (the image of the ideal father):

C'est mon père.... J'ai eu un père. Il était loin de l'image du père idéal

He's my father.... I had a father. He was far from the image of the ideal father

Captions 11, 39-40, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mon père n'est pas mort - Part 8

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A few nouns, like enfant (child), can be preceded by either a masculine or a feminine article, as those words refer to people of any gender:

Elle a un enfant et c'est...

She has a child [masculine] and she's...

Caption 43, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Ma mère fait tout pour briser mon couple - Part 2

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Je suis une enfant du monde

I am a child [feminine] of the world

Caption 31, Indila - Dernière danse

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Usually, though, a given noun will have a masculine and a feminine version. Many feminine nouns end in -e (though not all nouns ending in -e are feminine, as we'll see below). So, we have two words for “friend": une amie (a female friend) and un ami (a male friend).

Et c'est une amie à moi canadienne

And it's a Canadian friend of mine

Caption 18, Amal et Caroline - Quartier du Louvre

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When used as nouns, nationalities are capitalized and also take an -e in the feminine form. For example, a Frenchwoman is une Française, and a Frenchman is un Français:

Les habitants de la France, les Françaises et les Français, sont plus de soixante-six millions.

The inhabitants of France, Frenchwomen and Frenchmen, are more than sixty-six million.

Caption 19, Le saviez-vous? - D'où vient le nom de la France?

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Here is another example with nationalities. Note that you pronounce the s in Française, which is a "z" sound, but not in Français. When a noun ends with a silent consonant in the masculine form, that letter usually becomes sounded in the feminine form:

Parce que c'est l'histoire toute simple d'un amour entre un Américain et une Française.

Because it's the very simple story of a love between an American boy and a French girl.

Captions 47-48, Extr@ - Ep. 5 - Une étoile est née - Part 2

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Endings in -e are especially useful for the femininization of job titles:

Madame George Pau-Langevin, la députée de la quinzième circonscription

Ms. George Pau-Langevin, the deputy for the fifteenth constituency

Caption 92, Actu Vingtième - Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville

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Here, la députée (the female deputy) is the feminine form of le député (the male deputy).

Some masculine nouns already end in -e and therefore are equivalent to their feminine counterparts, as in un artiste/une artiste (a male/female artist). In this case, only the article in front determines the gender. Karine Rougier, for example, refers to herself as une artiste:

Du coup, le processus pour devenir une artiste, je pense que... il est à l'intérieur de moi

So, the process to become an artist, I think that... it's inside me

Captions 42-43, Le saviez-vous? - Karine Rougier présente son art - Part 4

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However, there are times when people use the masculine form of the job title even when referring to women. This happens for various reasons, some of them subtle. Earlier in the video series on Karine Rougier, the curator of the gallery introduces her as un artiste, not une artiste. Why?

It’s because the speaker is using the term artiste in a generic sense. He is talking about the tradition of giving carte blanche to an artist (in general) every year and is not referring to Karine Rougier specifically yet:

Comme chaque année au mois d'octobre, nous faisons une carte blanche à un artiste. Et cette année, c'est Karine Rougier

Like every year in the month of October, we're giving carte blanche to an artist. And this year, it's Karine Rougier

Captions 3-5, Le saviez-vous? - Karine Rougier présente son art - Part 1

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In the following video, the speaker also uses the masculine because he's speaking in generic terms about un élève (a student) of unknown gender:

Ce sac à dos est à un élève, non?

This backpack belongs to a student, right?

Caption 25, Conversations au parc - Ep. 3: C'est à qui ce sac à dos ?

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Whenever there is no way of identifying the gender of a person, French speakers often default to the masculine. When the couple in the example below expresses a desire to avoir un enfant (have a child) one day, they're not specifically talking about a boy, but rather a child of any gender:

Quelle décision? Avoir un enfant.

What decision? To have a child.

Captions 6-7, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À la recherche de mon passé - Part 2

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To recap, while the masculine usually applies to males, it's also used when the gender is not known, or when it refers to people in a generic sense. The use of the feminine is more straightforward, as it applies exclusively to women and girls. The difficulty here lies in which ending you’re going to use, as not all feminine nouns end in -e. Many of them look different from their masculine counterparts, especially job titles and animals, both of which will be explored in future lessons.

In our previous lesson on present participles, we discussed how they can be used as verbs or as adjectives. In this lesson, we’ll focus on present participles used as verbs, known as le gérondif.

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Basically, the gérondif is the construction "en + present participle," as in en faisant (while doing). Like all present participles used as verbs, present participles in the gérondif don’t take agreement. 

In addition, the gérondif construction "en + present particple" never changes in French, but it will translate differently in English depending on context and function.

The gérondif usually indicates simultaneity and causation, and can be translated as "while x-ing," "by x-ing," or "as x."

When the gérondif is used to emphasize two actions taking place at about the same time, it usually translates as "while x-ing," as in en attendant (while waiting):

Bon... en attendant que notre pâte lève, on s'attaque au bredele?

Good... while waiting for our dough to rise, shall we tackle the bredele?

Caption 35, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas

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En attendant can also be used on its own as an idiomatic expression ("in the meantime/meanwhile"):

En attendant, les communes doivent payer des ramassages quotidiens

In the meantime, towns must pay for daily collection

Caption 31, Le Journal - Marée verte en Bretagne

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The construction "en + present participle" can also be equivalent to "as + verb" in English when indicating simultaneity:

Mais... en partant, elle m'a donné son numéro de téléphone.

But... as she left, she gave me her phone number.

Captions 35-36, Extr@ - Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 3

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To further emphasize simultaneity between two actions or to indicate opposing actions in French, you can use the construction "tout en + present participle" (all while x-ing), as in tout en parlant (all while speaking). This construction is especially useful when you're talking about multitasking:

Je joue sur mon téléphone et parle avec mes amis tout en regardant la télé.

I play on my phone and talk to my friends, all while watching TV.

The gérondif can also indicate a means to achieve something, equivalent to the construction "by x-ing" in English:

Parents, veuillez surveiller bien vos enfants en leur apprenant à respecter les animaux.

Parents, please supervise your children well by teaching them to respect the animals.

Caption 12, Voyage en France - Chantilly - Part 3

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The gérondif can also describe the way an action is performed:

Est-elle rentrée en chantant?

Did she come in singing?

Caption 58, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3

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Here, the translation is straightforward. En chantant simply means "singing."

However, when that sentence is put in the negative form, you must use the infinitive and not the present participle. As Patricia explains in her video, en chantant (singing) becomes sans chanter (without singing). The preposition sans (without) must be followed by the infinitive:

Non, elle est rentrée sans chanter.

No, she came in without singing [she didn't come in singing].

Caption 59, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3

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The present participle is much more prevalent in English, whereas French favors the infinitive instead. In English you can follow a conjugated verb by an infinitive or a present participle. In French, it’s preferable to use the infinitive. For example, when talking about something you like doing or like to do, you cannot say j’aime faisant (I like doing). You have to say j’aime faire (I like to do):

J’aime faire des dessins.

I like drawing./I like to draw. 

Similarly, when a person witnesses someone doing something, it’s better to use the infinitive after a conjugated verb:

Je les ai vues chanter.

I saw them sing./I saw them singing. 

Another word of caution: the present participle is never used to form a progressive tense, simply because there is no such tense in French. You must use the present indicative instead. For example, "I am thinking" (present progressive) and "I think" (present indicative) both translate as je pense.

The construction je suis pensant, the literal translation of "I am thinking," simply does not exist! The only option is the present indicative: je pense (I think).

If you really want to emphasize an action in progress in French, you can use the expression être en train de (to be in the process/in the middle of):

On est en train de réchauffer la pâte en fin de compte.

We are in the process of warming up the dough in the end.

Caption 12, Cap 24 Alessandro di Sarno se met au point de croix

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To sum up, French uses the infinitive in many instances where English uses the present participle, and the gérondif construction "en + present participle" can take various forms in English. 

There you have it for present participles! En passant (incidentally), we hope this lesson will be useful to you!

In Part 2, we explored the passé composé of second-group verbs, or verbs whose infinitives end in -ir. In this lesson, we’ll discuss irregular -ir verbs, which belong to the third group.

As mentioned in our previous lesson, -ir verbs are classified, in addition to their infinitive endings, according to their present participles (equivalent to the -ing ending of a verb in English). So, all -ir verbs with a present participle ending in -issant (such as finir > finissant [finishing]) belong to the second group and have a past participle ending in -i.

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On the other hand, most irregular -ir verbs have a present participle ending in -ant and a past participle ending in -u.

For example, tenir (to keep, hold) becomes tenant (keeping, holding) and tenu (kept, held): 

en tenant la poêle de la main droite

while holding the pan with the right hand

Caption 33, Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la Chandeleur

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Mais elle a également tenu sa promesse.

But she has also kept her promise.

Caption 33, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion

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It’s a good idea to learn the derivatives of a verb, as they usually share the same conjugation rules. All verbs ending in -tenir will work the same way. So, obtenir (to obtain) and retenir (to retain) also have a past participle ending in -u: obtenu, retenu. 

The same applies to all the derivatives of venir (to come), such as devenir (to become) and prévenir (to warn):

Et il a prévenu les flics.

And he called the cops.

Caption 32, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À la recherche de mon père

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Having said that… there’s an oddball bunch of -ir verbs that have a present participle ending in -ant and a past participle ending in -i, not -u. 

For example, partir (to leave) becomes partant and parti: 

Mais... en partant,

But... as she left,

elle m'a donné son numéro de téléphone.

she gave me her phone number.

Captions 35-36, Extr@ - Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto

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Leurs parents sont partis vivre en Australie il y a une dizaine d'années

Their parents went to live in Australia around ten years ago

Caption 10, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À la recherche de mon passé

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And sortir (to go out) becomes sortant and sorti:

Drôles d'étudiants que ceux-là,

Strange students they are,

habitant l'hôtel et sortant en robe longue et nœud papillon.

living in a hotel and going out in long dresses and bow ties.

Caption 12, Le Journal - L'Institut du goût

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Le mec, il est sorti

The guy went out

Caption 3, Sophie et Patrice - La révolution est-elle en cours?

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Note that partir and sortir are also part of a small group of verbs that require the auxiliary être (to be) in the passé composé, which we will discuss in a future lesson.

Finally, there is a minority of -ir verbs that are quite irregular and unpredictable, with a past participle ending in -ert. 

For example, the past participle of ouvrir (to open) is actually ouvert, not ouvri as its stem would suggest!

...qui a ouvert ses portes récemment à Mittelhausbergen

that recently opened its doors in Mittelhausbergen

Caption 3, Alsace 20 - Mangez bien, mangez alsacien!

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Again, to make it easier for yourself, learn how to conjugate ouvrir along with its derivatives, like découvrir (to discover), recouvrir (to cover up), couvrir (to cover), whose past participles all end in -ouvert. That will save you a lot of trouble. Speaking of trouble, the group of Canadians in the example below suffered a lot because of English…

Moi j'ai souffert beaucoup dans mon enfance de l'anglais ici.

I suffered a lot in my childhood with English here.

Caption 19, Le Québec parle - aux Français

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We hope that vous n’avez pas trop souffert (you didn’t suffer too much) learning about irregular -ir verbs in the passé composé, because we have another round of third-group verbs waiting to be discovered (découvert) in our next lesson!