The Gender of Countries, Nationalities and Cities in French

#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.

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 : 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 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.

#Cities :

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

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.

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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I'll see you soon for new adventures, in French of course! 🇫🇷