#The gender of countries : which article ?

If the name of a country ends with the letter -e, it is feminine. Then put the -la or -l' (if the name of the country begins with a vowel).
For example : La France, l'Italie, la Slovaquie, l'Algérie, la Syrie.

 ⚠️  Attention ! There are six country names ending in -e and which are masculine : le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Belize, le Cambodge, le Suriname, le Zimbabwe.
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If the name of a country ends with a letter other than -e, it's masculine. Then put the -le or -l' (if the name of the country begins with a vowel).
For example : Le Maroc, l'Iran, le Portugal, le Canada, le Congo

If the name of a country ends with the letter -s. It is in the plural. Then you have to put the article -les.
For example : Les Philippines, les États-Unis, les Pays-Bas.

The gender of countries: which article?

 

 

#The gender of countries : what preposition ?

If a country is female, the preposition -en is used.
For example : J'habite en France. Elle vit en Italie. Nous partons en Slovaquie. Tu vis en Algérie.

If a country is male, the preposition -au is used.
For example : Je vis au Canada. Nous allons au Portugal. Il habite au Congo.

If a country is in the plural, the preposition -aux is used.
For example : Nous allons aux Pays-Bas. Elles habitent aux États-Unis. Tu pars aux Philippines.

 

The gender of countries: which preposition?

 

 

#The gender of nationalities :

Nationalities take a -e when they are feminine.
For example : Il est français. → Elle est française. Éric est portugais. → Maria est portugaise.

Nationalities that already have a -e in the masculine, do not change in the feminine.
For example : Il est belge. → Elle est belge. Lucas est suisse. → Sophie est suisse.

 ⚠️  Attention ! Some nationalities change form to feminine.
For example : Il est turc. → Elle est turque. Georges est grec. → Lucie est grecque.
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The gender of nationalities

 

 

#Cities :

Unlike countries, cities do not have articles.
For example : Bruxelles, Paris, Lisbonne, ...

 ⚠️  Attention ! There are exceptions : Le Caire, Le Havre, Le Mans, Le Creusot, La Nouvelle-Orléans, La Tour-du-Pin, ...

With cities, the preposition -à is always used.
For example : J'habite à Bruxelles. Nous allons à Paris. Il fait très beau à la Nouvelle-Orléans.

For cities that have the item -le, we use the preposition -au (contraction of le+ à).
For example : Je vais au Caire. Il habite au Havre.

 

Which preposition for the cities ?

 

The gender of countries, nationalities and cities in French now hold no secrets for you. You are totally ready to talk about countries, nationalities and cities without being mistaken 😉

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