Forming the feminine of nouns and adjectives ending in -ien, -ion, -on

Posted by Aurélie Drouard

In: Level A1, Adjectives & Adverbs, Adjectif, Nom, Genre masculin, Genre féminin

Questions: 3

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

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Anish

Kwiziq community member

23 June 2017

2 replies

Hi, some of the pronunciations sound robotic.

The pronunciation is not clear. Is it possible to have better recordings.

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Gruff

Kwiziq language super star

23 June 2017

23/06/17

Hi Anish - thanks for pointing that out. I've regenerated them with new voices so have a listen again and let me know if they're better? Best, Gruff.

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Stefanie

Kwiziq community member

19 January 2018

19/01/18

still robotic :)

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