Look at these nouns and adjectives ending in -ien, -ion, and -on :
Ton fils est mignon, et ta fille est mignonne aussi.
Your son is cute, and your daughter is cute too.
Il y a un château ancien et une église ancienne.
There is an ancient castle and an ancient church.
Voilà un bon gâteau et une bonne boisson.
Here is a good cake and a good drink.
Usain Bolt est un champion.
Serena Williams est une championne.
Usain Bolt is a champion.
Serena Williams is a champion.
Au zoo, il y a un lion et une lionne.
At the zoo, there is a lion and a lioness.
Andrew est australien, et Emma est aussi australienne.
Andrew is Australian, and Emma is also Australian.
Note that to form the feminine form of nouns and adjectives ending in -ien, -ion and -on, you double the 'n' and add an 'e' at the end, e.g. -ienne, -ionne and -onne.
Cases of nationalities:
Note that nationalities used as adjectives are NOT capitalised, whereas they are capitalised when used as nouns:
Ma petite amie est canadienne.
My girlfriend is Canadian.
Je connais un Canadien qui vit de l'autre côté de la rue.
I know a Canadian who lives across the street.
See also Forming the feminine of adjectives ending in -el, -eil, -il, -ul, -et, -s
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
J'ai un chien et une chienne.
I have a dog and a female dog.
Usain Bolt est un champion.
Serena Williams est une championne.
Usain Bolt is a champion.
Serena Williams is a champion.
Voilà un bon gâteau et une bonne boisson.
Here is a good cake and a good drink.
Andrew est australien, et Emma est aussi australienne.
Andrew is Australian, and Emma is also Australian.
Il y a un château ancien et une église ancienne.
There is an ancient castle and an ancient church.
Ton fils est mignon, et ta fille est mignonne aussi.
Your son is cute, and your daughter is cute too.
Je connais un Canadien qui vit de l'autre côté de la rue.
I know a Canadian who lives across the street.
Au zoo, il y a un lion et une lionne.
At the zoo, there is a lion and a lioness.
Ma petite amie est canadienne.
My girlfriend is Canadian.
Q&A
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
23/06/17
Stefanie
Kwiziq community member
19/01/18
Claudia
Kwiziq community member
28 October 2018
2 replies
Bonjour. On the test I took "Il y a un Indien et une Indienne, why are they capitalized. I thought nationalities in french were not capitalized.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
29 October 2018
29/10/18
Hi Claudia,
If you look a the note in the lesson for the case of nationalities , if it is an adjective there is no capital letter, e.g.
Elle est indienne, il est français...
But if it is a noun, i.e. the inhabitant of that country there is a capital letter .
Elle c'est une Française, lui, c'est un Espagnol...
Hope this helps!
Claudia
Kwiziq community member
29 October 2018
29/10/18