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In French, continents, countries, regions and states have different genders and they can also be plural.
Gender and number of continents, countries, regions and states in French
Look at these sentences:
Note that in French, countries, continents, regions and states are either feminine, masculine or plural.
Here are the main rules:
- Most places ending in 'e' are feminine.
This includes most continents (Europe, Afrique, Amérique, Asie, Océanie).
EXCEPTIONS:
l'Antarctique (Antarctica)
le Mexique (Mexico)
le Cambodge (Cambodia)
le Zimbabwe or Zimbabwé
le Mozambique
le Belize or Bélize
le Mexique (Mexico)
le Cambodge (Cambodia)
le Zimbabwe or Zimbabwé
le Mozambique
le Belize or Bélize
- Places ending in other letters (including other vowels: a, o, etc) are masculine.
le Japon, le Portugal, l'Ohio, le Nebraska, ...
- Some countries are plural: they're usually made up of several "parts" (states, lands...).
les États-Unis (USA), les Pays-Bas (Netherlands), ...
ATTENTION:
le Pays de Galles (Wales) is singular and masculine.
Case of English counties
English counties, including the ones ending in "-shire" and Merseyside, are masculine...
BUT for two notable exceptions:
- Cornwall, which in French is translated as la or les Cornouailles.
- Isle of Wight, because the word île is feminine in French: l'île de Wight.
- Isle of Wight, because the word île is feminine in French: l'île de Wight.
VOCABULARY LINKS:
Here's a link to the French Wikipédia page on American states, at the beginning of which you'll find the list with their genders marked -> (m) for masculine and (f) for feminine:
Les États des États-Unis
Here's our Vocabulary List of 46 countries:
See also En/au/aux = In/to with countries and continents (French Prepositions), Venir de/d'/du/des = To come/be from with countries/states/regions and continents (French Prepositions) and Using le, la, l', les with continents, countries & regions names (definite articles)
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