The Rules for the Gender of French Nouns: Revised Third Edition

Do you wonder why an arm is masculine while a leg is feminine? Why your sofa is masculine but your chair is feminine? And why should a person or victim always be feminine, even if the person or the victim referred to happens to be a man? And isn't it odd that masculinité is feminine? The illogic of French gender can be puzzling and frustrating to the new student of French.

After reading this book, if you see words like croisement, or pays, or vin, or chocolat, you will know that they are masculine, and, in the same way, you will recognize immediately that ville, facture, maladie, and essence are feminine words. You will even know why the United States is masculine but France is La France.