Salut chers amis (Hello dear friends)!
It is a beautiful day here and I believe it is the same with you. I hope you've gained a lot from the 3 of the most important French verbs treated previously.
Today, we shall be learning how to combine adjectives of profession with the verb "être =to be" In case you can't remember this verb, kindly go through our previous lesson on the uses of the verb "être" through this link. https://www.mapetitefranceng.com/blog-1/verb-etre-to-be
We would like to quickly state here that all adjectives in French language agree with the nouns they follow both in gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural) in a general sense. Thus, it is necessary for us to know how to determine, most especially, the masculine and feminine forms of french adjectives of profession. We hope you have your paper and pen within your reach to take down a few notes. That's cool. So, let's begin.
Generally, in French, feminine forms of adjectives and formed from the masculine forms by just adding an "e" to it. Note, this is for adjectives in general. But when it comes to adjectives of profession, there are some endings we need to take note of on order to know their feminine form. We shall carefully go through some different cases together.
1. Adjectives of profession that end with an "e" in the masculine form remain invariable in the feminine form.
Examples :
Pilote = pilot
Architecte = architect
Journaliste = journalist
Photographe = photographer
All the adjectives listed above go for both the masculine and feminine forms.
2. There are some professions that were formerly considered to be for men. Thus, there was no need for the feminine forms of such professions until recently when we begin to have women in such professions. So, we basically add an "e" to the masculine form of such profession to make it femimine.
There are very few professions in this category.
Examples :
Professeur / professeure =Teacher or professor
Ingénieur / ingénieure = Engineer
3. Adjectives of profession that end in "eur" have their feminine forms in "euse".
Examples:
Coiffeur / coiffeuse = Barber or hairdresser
*note here that "coiffeur" goes for both "barber and hairdresser" if we are referring to a man while "coiffeuse" equally goes for "barber or hairdresser" when we are referring to a woman. Hope that is well understood... Read between the lines again. Fine!
Joueur / joueuse = Player (sport)
Footballeur / footballeuse = footballer
4. Adjectives of profession that end in "teur" have their feminine forms ending with "trice".
Examples :
Animateur / animatrice = Master of ceremonies
Directeur / directrice = director
Conducteur / conductrice = driver
Présentateur / présentatrice = presenter or newscaster
NB: "chanteur" which means "singer" is an exception in this category. It has its feminine form as "chanteuse". Kindly take note of this.
5. Adjectives of profession that end in "ien" have their feminine forms ending in "ienne".
Examples :
Musicien / musicienne =musician
Pharmacien / pharmacienne = pharmacist
Électricien / électricienne = electrician
6. Adjectives of prefession that end in "er" or "ier" have their feminine forms ending in "ère" and "ière".
Examples :
Boucher / bouchère = butcher
Boulanger / boulangère = baker
Infirmier / infirmière = nurse
So, with your knowlegde of the conjugation of the verb "être = to be", you can now talk about your profession or someone else's.
Je suis animateur. = I am a master of ceremonies.
Il est ingénieur. = He is an engineer.
Elle est infirmière. She is a nurse.
In French, contrary to English Language, you put no indefinite article before the adjectives of the profession. We hope you saw that in the examples given above. So, we don't say "je suis un professeur" but simply say "je suis professeur".
We shall stop here for now to see you again in another class. Until then, keep learning and increasing in learning.
