Forming the feminine of nouns and adjectives ending in -ien, -ion, -on : French language revision

Posted by Aurélie Drouard

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

Questions: 3

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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.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adjectif

Nom

Genre masculin

Genre féminin

Examples and resources

J'ai un chien et une chienne.
I have a dog and a female dog.