What are the genders in French grammar and how are they determined?

In French grammar, nouns have two genders: masculine and feminine. Determining the gender of a noun can be challenging because there are few hard rules.

Some guidelines include: 

Natural Gender: Nouns referring to living beings often have a gender corresponding to the gender of the being (e.g.: homme - masculine, femme - feminine).

Suffixes: Certain suffixes can hint at a noun's gender (e.g.: -e usually feminine, -age usually masculine).

Diminutives: Diminutives often take the gender of the original word.
Example:

Original word: "chien" (dog)

Diminutive form: "chiot" (puppy)

Both "chien" and "chiot" are masculine, so the diminutive form "chiot" maintains the same gender as the original word.

Masculine Default: In some cases, the masculine form is used as a default when gender is unspecified.

Irregularities: Some nouns do not follow consistent rules and must be memorized (e.g., le téléphone - masculine, la voiture - feminine).

Agreement: Adjectives and modifiers must agree in gender with the nouns they modify.

Practice and exposure to the language are essential for mastering noun gender due to numerous exceptions and irregularities.