…
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning FrenchMaster French — from La maison est grande to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions
More from this lesson
Questions & Answers about La maison est grande.
Why does grande have an "e" at the end?
In French, adjectives typically agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Since maison is feminine, the adjective grand must take a final e to become grande.
Why do we use la instead of le for maison?
French nouns have a grammatical gender. Maison is a feminine noun, so the definite article la is used instead of le, which is for masculine nouns.
Could we say Le maison if we want to emphasize something else?
No. Articles in French must match the gender of the noun, regardless of emphasis. Since maison is always feminine, la must be used.
Why do we say La maison est grande instead of La grande maison est?
In French, the usual sentence structure is subject + verb + complement. Here, La maison (subject) + est (verb) + grande (complement). While adjectives can sometimes come before nouns in French, many adjectives of size, including grand/grande, typically come after the noun when used in simple descriptive statements.
Does maison only mean "house," or can it also mean "home"?
Maison primarily translates to "house," but in many contexts, it can also mean "home" in a general sense, especially when referring to where someone lives.