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Deux poignées de fraises Two handfuls (literally, "fistfuls") of strawberries |
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Le suffixe -ée
The French suffix -ée is added to nouns or verbs to make new nouns, which are usually feminine. There are several possible meanings bestowed by the suffix.
1) Duration
There are four pairs of French nouns that distinguish between a simple period of time and the duration or quality of that time period – learn more.
English | |||
un an | une année | year | |
un jour | une journée | day | |
un matin | une matinée | morning | |
un soir | une soirée | evening |
2) ___ful
An amount equivalent to what that noun holds.
Nom | Racine | Français | English | |
une assiette | assiett- | une assiettée | plate | plateful |
une bouche | bouch- | une bouchée | mouth | mouthful |
une cuillère | cuiller-* | une cuillerée | spoon | spoonful |
une gorge | gorg- | une gorgée | throat | "throatful," gulp |
un poing | poing- | une poignée | fist | fistful, handful |
Note that when the original noun ends in -e, that letter is dropped before adding the suffix. A few words have additional, minor spelling changes when suffixed.*
3) Contents
The contents of the original noun, the concept of what it contains or indicates.
Nom | Racine | Français | English | |
une ligne | lign- | la lignée | line | descendents |
une maison | maisonn-* | la maisonnée | house | household, family |
une table | tabl- | une tablée | table | people around a table |
une voiture | voitur- | une voiturée | car | contents of a car |
4) Noun created from a verb
The addition of the suffix –ée creates a noun that indicates the purpose, action, or result of that verb. Note that the infinitive ending is dropped before the suffix is added:
Verbe | Nom | English | ||
aller | une allée | to go | avenue, path, aisle | |
donner | une donnée | to give | datum, fact | |
fesser | une fessée | to spank | spanking | |
monter | une montée | to climb | climb, ascent, rise | |
plonger | une plongée | to dive | dive |
5) Past participle
The feminine singular past participle of -er verbs:
English | ||||
donner | donnée | to give | given | |
parler | parlée | to speak | spoken | |
payer | payée | to pay | paid | |
visiter | visitée | to visit | visited |
6) Plant names
Quite a few plant names and plant families end in –ée, though I can’t find a pattern to their creation.
une achillée | achillea | |
une graminée | a grass | |
une orchidée | orchid | |
une poirée | Swiss chard |
7) Et cetera
There are many other words that end in –ée but don’t follow a pattern; here are just a few examples:**
- une denrée – foodstuff
- un dragée – sugared almond
- une épée – sword
- une fée – fairy
- une marée – tide
- une mosquée – mosque
* Note the minor spelling changes in the words cuillerée (loses the accent on the penultimate e in cuillère) and maisonnée (n at the end of maison is doubled).
** Still want more?
For a complete list of French words that end in –ée, try the tremendously useful Recherche par critères feature of Le Petit Robert:
Related lessons
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