French grammar tip: The suffix shortcut
Some are identical, for example 'icide' meaning the killing of something (homicide, suicide, regicide), or 'able' meaning capable of, tending towards or fit for - eg teachable or adorable, or in the more modern construction instagrammable - meaning photogenic and therefore making for a good Instagram post. In French, the spelling of this last one is the same but it's pronounced ahn-stah-gram-ah-bluh.
Others are similar enough to make for easy guessing.
For example 'ism' in English becomes 'isme' in French so it isn't too hard to work out what
le feminisme
,
le racisme
and
le sexisme
mean. This also applies to imported words -
le wokisme
might look like it refers to stir-fry cookery, but in fact is the French version of 'wokery' using the borrowed English word woke.
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Likewise the English 'crat' just gains an 'e' to become
un
aristocrate
or
un plutocrate
while 'acy' becomes 'cratie' as in
la démocratie
.
There are, however, some specifically French suffixes - and learning the suffix is a handy shortcut to knowing a whole tranche of new words.
Here are a few of the most common;
ment
- this is the equivalent of the English 'ly' suffix, which turns something into an adverb or, in certain cases, an adjective. Common French examples include
malheureusement
(unfortunately),
probablement
(probably) and the rather majestic
vraisemblement
which literally translates as 'true-seemingly' but really means likely or probably.
ette
- this denotes smallness, specifically a smaller version of something. So for example a
supermarché
is a supermarket, a
superette
is a mini market.
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o
- this is a more slangy one, a common way of shortening words and making them more casual, so
restaurant
becomes
resto
,
exposition
becomes
expo
etc
.
You're more likely to hear this in spoken French but it's also used in informal written contexts, such as chat groups between friends or on social media.
ard
- a description of a person as coming from a certain place or belonging to a certain group, so
montagnard
is someone who lives in the mountains (
montagnes
) while
banlieusard
is someone who lives in the suburbs (
banlieues
) and
smicard
is someone who earns minimum wage (
le smic
). This suffix quite often appears in a negative or flat-out perjorative context, such as
pleurnichard
(crybaby, from the verb
pleurer
, to cry).
ais/aise/ois/oise
- inhabitant of or coming from. If you see this one, check out the first part of the word and look for the name of a town or region for example
marseillaise
(from Marseille),
bordelaise
(from Bordeaux) or
niçois
(from Nice),
québécois
e (from Quebec). The 'e' denotes the feminine, either for a woman or girl from those places or an object eg
une salade niçoise
.
Although the '
aise/oise
' ending denotes an inhabitant, there are plenty of places that don't follow this rule - for example
parisien
or
toulousain
or the more exotic sounding
séquano-dionysien
(inhabitant of the département of Seine-Saint-Denis).
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Which brings us neatly to exceptions.
Yes, all of the above suffixes have exceptions and words that don't fit the general rule, just like every other aspect of the French language. Sorry!
But having a good idea what these suffixes mean will open up a lot of new French words, and enable you to work out the general sense of a sentence in French that you might otherwise have been struggling with.
The above is just a selection of some common French suffixes that are not immediately recognisable to English speakers, you can find the full list of French suffixes
here
.
Grammar tips
From agreeing adjectives to the subjunctive, French grammar can be fiendishly - some claim deliberately - complicated. In fact, a member of the Academie française
is quoted as saying
that French spelling ought to be kept difficult in order to distinguish "men of learning from the ignorant and from simple women".
Almost all French learners have at one point despaired over ever getting it right.
People learn languages in different ways - some people prefer to just throw themselves into chatting, others like to have a textbook and some exercises. But the formal and structured nature of the French language means that if you want to become fluent - and if you need written French - then you are going to have to learn some grammar.
That's the purpose of our series of French grammar tips and tricks - and you can also sign up to receive them as a newsletter.
The tips are not intended as a substitute for formal classes or sweating over those verb tables (sadly, those are necessary), but may be of some help to language learners.
They come from our own experiences of living and working in France, and as with
our popular French word of the Day feature
, we've tried to focus on examples that will be useful in everyday life.
Read more French grammar tips;
French grammar tips: Look out for the accent
French grammar tips: Cheat the future
Guessing the gender of nouns
The cheat's guide to the subjunctive
Understanding French place names
Getting the date and time right
Pay attention to your French friend's English mistakes
Which French grammar rules do you find most confusing? Share your thoughts in the comments below
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Local France
5 days ago
- Local France
French grammar tip: The suffix shortcut
Because English and French have significant shared roots, a decent number of French suffixes are either the same as English or easily recognisable to English speakers. Some are identical, for example 'icide' meaning the killing of something (homicide, suicide, regicide), or 'able' meaning capable of, tending towards or fit for - eg teachable or adorable, or in the more modern construction instagrammable - meaning photogenic and therefore making for a good Instagram post. In French, the spelling of this last one is the same but it's pronounced ahn-stah-gram-ah-bluh. Others are similar enough to make for easy guessing. For example 'ism' in English becomes 'isme' in French so it isn't too hard to work out what le feminisme , le racisme and le sexisme mean. This also applies to imported words - le wokisme might look like it refers to stir-fry cookery, but in fact is the French version of 'wokery' using the borrowed English word woke. Advertisement Likewise the English 'crat' just gains an 'e' to become un aristocrate or un plutocrate while 'acy' becomes 'cratie' as in la démocratie . There are, however, some specifically French suffixes - and learning the suffix is a handy shortcut to knowing a whole tranche of new words. Here are a few of the most common; ment - this is the equivalent of the English 'ly' suffix, which turns something into an adverb or, in certain cases, an adjective. Common French examples include malheureusement (unfortunately), probablement (probably) and the rather majestic vraisemblement which literally translates as 'true-seemingly' but really means likely or probably. ette - this denotes smallness, specifically a smaller version of something. So for example a supermarché is a supermarket, a superette is a mini market. Advertisement o - this is a more slangy one, a common way of shortening words and making them more casual, so restaurant becomes resto , exposition becomes expo etc . You're more likely to hear this in spoken French but it's also used in informal written contexts, such as chat groups between friends or on social media. ard - a description of a person as coming from a certain place or belonging to a certain group, so montagnard is someone who lives in the mountains ( montagnes ) while banlieusard is someone who lives in the suburbs ( banlieues ) and smicard is someone who earns minimum wage ( le smic ). This suffix quite often appears in a negative or flat-out perjorative context, such as pleurnichard (crybaby, from the verb pleurer , to cry). ais/aise/ois/oise - inhabitant of or coming from. If you see this one, check out the first part of the word and look for the name of a town or region for example marseillaise (from Marseille), bordelaise (from Bordeaux) or niçois (from Nice), québécois e (from Quebec). The 'e' denotes the feminine, either for a woman or girl from those places or an object eg une salade niçoise . Although the ' aise/oise ' ending denotes an inhabitant, there are plenty of places that don't follow this rule - for example parisien or toulousain or the more exotic sounding séquano-dionysien (inhabitant of the département of Seine-Saint-Denis). Advertisement Which brings us neatly to exceptions. Yes, all of the above suffixes have exceptions and words that don't fit the general rule, just like every other aspect of the French language. Sorry! But having a good idea what these suffixes mean will open up a lot of new French words, and enable you to work out the general sense of a sentence in French that you might otherwise have been struggling with. The above is just a selection of some common French suffixes that are not immediately recognisable to English speakers, you can find the full list of French suffixes here . Grammar tips From agreeing adjectives to the subjunctive, French grammar can be fiendishly - some claim deliberately - complicated. In fact, a member of the Academie française is quoted as saying that French spelling ought to be kept difficult in order to distinguish "men of learning from the ignorant and from simple women". Almost all French learners have at one point despaired over ever getting it right. People learn languages in different ways - some people prefer to just throw themselves into chatting, others like to have a textbook and some exercises. But the formal and structured nature of the French language means that if you want to become fluent - and if you need written French - then you are going to have to learn some grammar. That's the purpose of our series of French grammar tips and tricks - and you can also sign up to receive them as a newsletter. The tips are not intended as a substitute for formal classes or sweating over those verb tables (sadly, those are necessary), but may be of some help to language learners. They come from our own experiences of living and working in France, and as with our popular French word of the Day feature , we've tried to focus on examples that will be useful in everyday life. Read more French grammar tips; French grammar tips: Look out for the accent French grammar tips: Cheat the future Guessing the gender of nouns The cheat's guide to the subjunctive Understanding French place names Getting the date and time right Pay attention to your French friend's English mistakes Which French grammar rules do you find most confusing? Share your thoughts in the comments below
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False claim France's La Jument lighthouse pays staff millions persists online
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French phrase of the day: Us et coutumes
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