How To Remember The Masculine and Feminine in French and Italian

 

French

The French tend to add the letter e to make names and nouns feminine.  Think of the name Marie. Personal names often have the endings e or ette. Think of Marie Antoinette.  

The masculine for he is il. The feminine, she, is elle. 

Having learned the French, you are half way to remembering the Italian.

Italian

Italian also uses e for the feminine. She is lei.

In Duolingo I learned that the English word television has two forms in Italian. A television programme or programme service, is televisione, feminine. But a television set is televisore, masculine. 

I could learn to recognize that there were two different words. But how do you remember which is which?

I did it by creating a sentence, and a visual picture. I don't have or need a physical visual aid, a picture or a flashcard. I create my own vision in my mind.

A small woman is sitting, knitting, watching a small TV, changing channels. Her husband, a well-built man, is out delivering huge, heavy television sets. It might not be politically correct to stereotype, but I have to learn to speak and understand Italian they way it is currently spoken if I want to communicate with people living in Italy today.