Final -e is known to be French female marker for nouns referring to
- human beings : ami m. boyfriend > amie f. girlfriend ,
- animals: lion m. > lionne f.,
- un grand sac m. a big bag > une grande avenue f. a big avenue.
Nevertheless, when it comes to nouns other than the ones referring to human beings, this is not that simple.
Thought it is perfectly fair to say:
"feminine nouns end with an -e in French", as more than 7 feminine nouns out of 10 do so,
the other way around cannot be stated:
"final -e is NOT the marker of feminine gender in French", as we find as many masculine nouns bearing a final -e than feminine nouns.
This paradox gets everyone confused...
There is a clear gender to form relationship :
feminine gender means greater chance to find a final -e than any other endings.
Where as the opposite (form to gender relationship) is not exactly true :
nouns ending with an -e are not clearly more likely to be feminine.
From Mauvais Genre : Gender of French Nouns
