In French, the word métro (referring to the subway or underground system) is definitively masculine.
Understanding Grammatical Gender in French
French, like many Romance languages, assigns a grammatical gender to every noun. Nouns are categorized as either masculine or feminine, and this gender affects the articles, adjectives, and pronouns used with them. There's no single rule to determine a noun's gender, but patterns and etymology often provide clues.
The Gender of 'Métro' in French
The noun "métro" is always masculine in French. This means it is used with masculine articles and adjectives.
- Definite Article: le métro (the subway)
- Indefinite Article: un métro (a subway)
For example, you would say:
- Le métro est rapide. (The subway is fast.)
- Prendre le métro. (To take the subway.)
Why is 'Métro' Masculine?
The word "métro" is a common example of a clipped or shortened form in French. It originated from the longer phrase "chemin de fer métropolitain", which means "metropolitan railway" or "metropolitan iron road."
In this original phrase:
- "chemin de fer" (railway) is masculine.
- The head noun, "chemin" (path/way), is masculine.
When words are clipped in French, they typically retain the gender of the original, longer noun or the head noun of the phrase from which they were derived. Since "chemin de fer" is masculine, its shortened form "métro" inherited the masculine gender.
Practical Use and Examples
Using the correct gender for "métro" is essential for natural-sounding French. Here are some common phrases and examples:
| French Phrase | English Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Le métro parisien | The Parisian subway | "Parisien" (Parisian) is masculine here. |
| Un métro bondé | A crowded subway | "Bondé" (crowded) is masculine here. |
| Prendre le métro | To take the subway | Common verb phrase. |
| La station de métro | The subway station | "Station" is feminine, but "métro" remains masculine. |
| Descendre du métro | To get off the subway | "Du" is a contraction of "de le". |
Further examples:
- Où est le métro le plus proche ? (Where is the nearest subway?)
- J'adore voyager en métro. (I love traveling by subway.)
- Les rames de métro sont modernes. (The subway trains are modern.)
For more information on the word "métro" and its usage, you can consult reputable French dictionaries like Larousse: Métro - Larousse Dictionary
Gender Consistency and Cross-Linguistic Differences
It is important to emphasize that in French, "métro" is consistently masculine. However, when a similar word, like "metrò" (with an accent on the 'o'), appears in other languages, its gender might vary. This can depend on its origin in that specific language: it might be a direct borrowing from the French masculine "métro," or it might be a shortening of a local word that is feminine, such as "metropolitana" (meaning "metropolitan railway" or "subway system") in languages like Italian. But for "métro" in French, its gender remains masculine.
