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Why short nouns like 'photo' and 'moto' keep the gender of the full word

French loves shortening long nouns: la photographie becomes la photo, la motocyclette becomes la moto, l'ordinateur becomes l'ordi. The short word keeps the grammar of the long one. Its gender does not change, and its plural works the way the full word's plural would.

This trips up English speakers because the new ending often points the wrong way. Many learners assume that words ending in -o are masculine, so un photo or un moto feels natural. It isn't correct: the gender comes from the hidden full word, not from the letters you can see.

Word list
busmA1 bus un bus cinémamA1 cinema le cinéma footmA1 football le foot kilomA1 kilogram un kilo photofA1 photo une photo profA1 teacher un prof or une prof stylomA1 pen un stylo téléfA1 television la télé vélomA1 bicycle un vélo adoA2 teenager un ado or une ado autofA2 car une auto basketmA2 basketball le basket frigomA2 fridge un frigo mathsfA2 mathematics les maths mayofA2 mayonnaise la mayo (from la mayonnaise), not le mayo météofA2 weather la météo métromA2 subway le métro motofA2 motorcycle une moto ordimA2 computer un ordi radiofA2 radio une radio récréfA2 break la récré téléfA2 television la télé trammA2 tram le tram infosfB1 news les infos météofB1 weather forecast la météo micromB1 microphone un micro pneumB1 tyre des pneus pseudomB1 nickname un pseudo pubfB1 commercial une pub pullmB1 sweater un pull radiofB1 radio la radio volleymB1 volleyball le volley carmB2 coach un car colocB2 roommate un coloc or une coloc maniffB2 protest une manif vétoB2 vet un véto or une véto
How it works

To find the gender of a shortened noun, think of the full word it comes from. La télévision is feminine, so la télé is too. La météorologie gives la météo, and la radiophonie gives la radio. These end in -o or -é but stay feminine. In the other direction, le vélocipède gives le vélo and le métropolitain gives le métro, both masculine.

For the plural, you usually just add -s: des photos, des vélos, des ordis. Nouns whose full form is already plural stay plural when shortened: les mathématiques gives les maths and les informations gives les infos.

J'ai mis les photos de ma moto sur mon ordi.
(I put the photos of my motorbike on my computer.)
La météo annonce de la pluie pour demain.
(The weather forecast says rain for tomorrow.)
The words
Feminine, despite the ending

These are the ones to learn carefully: la photo, la moto, la télé (both the set and the medium), la radio (the device and the technology), la météo (the weather and the forecast), la récré from récréation, la pub from publicité, la manif from manifestation, and l'auto from automobile. Une auto sounds a little old-fashioned; everyday French prefers une voiture.

La prof regarde les infos à la télé.
(The teacher watches the news on television.)
Le matin, j'écoute la radio dans la cuisine.
(In the morning, I listen to the radio in the kitchen.)
Cette pub passe toutes les dix minutes.
(This advert comes on every ten minutes.)
Une grande manif passe devant le cinéma.
(A big protest is going past the cinema.)
Masculine, like the full word

Le vélo, le métro, le stylo, le kilo, le micro, le pseudo (from pseudonyme), le cinéma (from cinématographe), le tram (from tramway), le pneu (from pneumatique) and le pull (from pull-over). Transport and sports belong here too: le bus and le car come from autobus and autocar, and le foot, le basket and le volley come from the full -ball names.

Mon vélo a deux pneus crevés.
(My bike has two flat tyres.)
Il a acheté deux kilos de pommes.
(He bought two kilos of apples.)
On prend le métro ou le bus ?
(Shall we take the underground or the bus?)
Either gender, depending on the person

Words for people follow the person: un prof or une prof, un ado or une ado, un véto or une véto, un coloc or une coloc.

Ma coloc est véto.
(My flatmate is a vet.)
Pendant la récré, les ados jouent au foot.
(At break time, the teenagers play football.)
Watch out
Plurals that don't look regular

Bus never changes: un bus, des bus, just like autobus. Pneu takes -s, not the -x you might expect after -eu. Maths keeps its -s even when you mean the subject: les maths sont difficiles.

J'ai eu une bonne note en maths.
(I got a good mark in maths.)
Same word, other meaning

Le basket is the sport, but une basket (usually des baskets) is a trainer, and it is feminine. Also, un car is a coach, not a car.

J'ai mis mes baskets pour jouer au basket.
(I put on my trainers to play basketball.)
Formal or informal style

Not every short form is slang. Photo, vélo, métro, télé, radio, météo and cinéma are completely neutral, and some have no longer rival in daily use. Ordi, prof, ado, récré, pub, manif, coloc, véto and pseudo are informal: fine with friends, less suitable in a formal letter. Other everyday shortened words such as labo, appart, ciné and apéro follow the same rule.

Summary

A shortened noun keeps the gender and number of the word it was cut from, whatever its new ending suggests: la photo, la moto and la radio are feminine, le vélo is masculine, and les maths and les infos stay plural. When in doubt, think of the full word, then add a normal -s for the plural.