Professions and Jobs in French – Masculine and Feminine Forms

Profession names are an integral part of the French vocabulary. They are used in everyday life, whether in masculine or feminine forms. There are specific rules how to derive the feminine profession names from the masculine ones.

Description	Masculine	Feminine
Masculine profession names ending with a consonant form their feminine names with the addition of a final « -e ».	un avocat	une avocate
Masculine profession names ending with « -teur » form their feminine names with the suffix « -trice ».	un acteur	une actrice
Most masculine profession names ending with « -eur » form their feminine names with the suffix « -euse ».	le chanteur	la chanteuse
For certain profession names ending with « -eur » in the masculine, we add a final « -e » in the feminine.	le professeur	la professeure
Masculine profession names ending with « -ien » form their feminine names with the suffix « -ienne ».	un informaticien	une informaticienne
Masculine profession names ending with « -er » form their feminine names with the suffix « -ère ».	le cuisinier	la cuisinière
Attention! Some profession names ending with « -e » are used in both masculine and feminine forms.	un architecte	une architecte
Profession names formerly reserved only for men exist only in the masculine form. To differentiate a man from a woman, we use the article before the noun.	un ingénieur le médecin	une ingénieur la médecin
Certain profession names only exist in the masculine form, even today.	le plombier le mécanicien
Likewise, certain profession names only exist in the feminine form.		la sage-femme la femme de ménage