gatoni261

[stuck pawn]

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Each suffix carries its own gender. When you make new words by combining existing ones with suffixes, the gender of the suffix trumps the gender of the original word

you just have to know if something is a suffix or if it just looks like it

For example, the suffix -age is masculine. Originally it describes a state of being but now the words have evolved. Anyway, any compound words made with the suffix -age will be masculine:
(1) le village = la ville + -age
(2) le garage = la gare + -age
(3) le voisinage = le voisin + -age
Thing is, if you didn't know any better, you might think that anything ending in -age is masculine but that's not case because you have « la plage (the beach) ». What gives? Well, unlike the other words, « plage » isn't a composite word; you can't break up « plage » into « pl » + -age, that's not how it works.