11 - Adjectives
Rules
Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. For example, un livre intéressant (an interesting book) vs. une histoire intéressante (an interesting story).
With adjectives, it’s pretty similar to spanish, where masculine objects get a masculine ending for the adjective, and feminine objects get a feminine ending for the adjective.
For example, masculine you leave the adjective as is, and for feminine, you add an -e to the end:
- “Un homme francais” → A french man
- ”Une femme francaise” → A french woman
Here are the main rules:
- Agreement: Adjectives match the noun’s gender and number (e.g., un livre intéressant, des maisons blanches).
- Placement: Most adjectives follow the noun (maison blanche), but some precede (beau garçon, petite fille).
- Irregulars: Beau → bel before masculine singular vowel/h (bel homme). Vieux → vieille (fem.), vieux/vieilles (pl.).
| Adjective | Masc. Sing. | Fem. Sing. | Masc. Pl. | Fem. Pl. | English | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| grand | grand | grande | grands | grandes | big/large | Un grand arbre. (A big tree.) |
| petit | petit | petite | petits | petites | small | Une petite voiture. (A small car.) |
| beau | beau/bel | belle | beaux | belles | beautiful/handsome | Une belle maison. (A beautiful house.) |
| bon | bon | bonne | bons | bonnes | good | Un bon ami. (A good friend.) |
| blanc | blanc | blanche | blancs | blanches | white | Une robe blanche. (A white dress.) |
Here’s a summary of the changes:
- Gender:
- Masculine: Base form (e.g., grand = tall, petit = small).
- Feminine: Often add e (e.g., grand → grande, petit → petite). Exceptions exist for irregulars (e.g., beau → belle).
- Number:
- Plural: Add s to masculine or feminine form (e.g., grands, grandes, petits, petites).
- If the adjective already ends in s or x, no change (e.g., heureux → heureux for plural masculine).
Or if you prefer to think of it like so:
- Masculine Singular: This is the base form of the adjective.
- Feminine Singular: Generally, add an "-e" to the masculine singular form.
- Masculine Plural: Generally, add an "-s" to the masculine singular form.
- Feminine Plural: Generally, add "-es" to the masculine singular form (or "-s" to the feminine singular form).
Adjective Placement
important
Adjectives usually come after the noun in french, just like spanish.
- After the Noun (most adjectives, e.g., colors, qualities):
- Une maison blanche (A white house, Una casa blanca).
- Un livre intéressant (An interesting book, Un libro interesante).
- Before the Noun (common adjectives, e.g., beau, grand, petit, bon, joli):
- Un beau garçon (A handsome boy, Un chico guapo).
- Une petite fille (A little girl, Una niña pequeña).
Adjectives that go before the noun
tip
You can remember the french adjectives that go before the noun because they follow the same rule as in spanish. Adjectives the go before the noun mean that the nouns they modify have that adjective as an intrinsic quality, like they can be qualified as that object.
- For example: you can classify an “old man” as just “old”, since that is an instrinsic quality he has.
You can remember these intrinsic adjectives that come before the noun using the acronym BAGS, where each letter (beauty, age, goodness, size) stands for a category of adjective that is thought of intrinsically, and thus goes before the noun.
- Beauty: beau, joli (beautiful, pretty)
- Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau (young, old, new)
- Goodness: bon, mauvais (good, bad)
- Size: petit, grand, gros (small, big, fat)
Meaning Changes with Position
The position of some adjectives can change their meaning depending on whether they are used before or after the noun.
For example, grand + vrai
- Un homme grand (A tall man) - describes physical height.
- Un grand homme (A great man) - describes importance or significance.
- Une histoire vraie (A true story) - a story that is factual.
- Une vraie histoire (A real story) - a genuine or authentic story.
tip
Important Note: Nouveau and Vieux have slightly different meanings depending on whether they precede or follow the noun.
- When placed before the noun, nouveau means "new" in the sense of "another" or "novel," while vieux means "old" in the sense of "long-standing" or "former."
- When placed after the noun, nouveau means "brand new," and vieux means "old" in terms of age.
- Un nouveau livre (before): a different book
- Un livre nouveau (after): a brand new book
- Un vieil ami (before): a long-standing friend
- Un ami vieux (after): an old (in age) friend
infinitives + adjectives
If if you want to describe an infinitive with an adjective, you need to use the “de” preposition as glue between the adjective and the infinitive, following this formula:
adjective + “de” + infinitive
- Example: Cest impossible de faire → It’s impossible to do
- Example: Cest impossible de le faire → It’s impossible to do it
- In this example, we do not do the contraction of “de” + “le” = “du” because we’re not dealing with partitive articles here, we are dealing with direct and indirect objects.
Common adjectives to Memorize
- grand (big/large, grande, grands, grandes): Un grand arbre (A big tree, Un árbol grande).
- petit (small, petite, petits, petites): Une petite voiture (A small car, Un coche pequeño).
- bon (good, bonne, bons, bonnes): Un bon ami (A good friend, Un buen amigo).
- beau (beautiful/handsome, belle, beaux, belles): Une belle maison (A beautiful house, Una casa bonita).
- blanc (white, blanche, blancs, blanches): Une robe blanche (A white dress, Un vestido blanco).
Here are some common adjectives and their opposites:
| Adjective | Opposite | Example | Opposite Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand(e) | Petit(e) | un grand livre (a big book) | un petit livre (a small book) |
| Beau/Bel/Belle | Laid(e) | une belle fleur (a beautiful flower) | une laide fleur (an ugly flower) |
| Bon(ne) | Mauvais(e) | un bon repas (a good meal) | un mauvais repas (a bad meal) |
| Intéressant(e) | Ennuyeux/Ennuyeuse | un film intéressant (an interesting film) | un film ennuyeux (a boring film) |
| Facile | Difficile | un exercice facile (an easy exercise) | un exercice difficile (a difficult exercise) |
| Jeune | Vieux/Vieil/Vieille | un jeune homme (a young man) | un vieil homme (an old man) |
| Nouveau/Nouvelle | Vieux/Vieil/Vieille | une nouvelle voiture (a new car) | une vieille voiture (an old car) |
| Propre | Sale | une chambre propre (a clean room) | une chambre sale (a dirty room) |
| Cher/Chère | Bon marché | un produit cher (an expensive product) | un produit bon marché (a cheap product) |
| Fort(e) | Faible | un homme fort (a strong man) | un homme faible (a weak man) |
Describing physical qualities of people
- grand(e) - (tall)
- petit(e) - (short)
- mince - (thin)
- gros(se) - (fat)
- beau/bel/belle - (handsome/beautiful)
- bel is used before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h.
- laid(e) - (ugly)
- jeune - (young)
- vieux/vieil/vieille - (old)
- vieil is used before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h.
- brun(e) - (brown-haired)
- blond(e) - (blonde)
- roux/rousse - (red-haired)
- les yeux bleus - (blue eyes)
- les yeux verts - (green eyes)
- les yeux marron - (brown eyes)
Describing non-physical qualities of people
- intelligent(e) - (intelligent)
- drôle - (funny)
- sympathique - (nice)
- méchant(e) - (mean)
- timide - (shy)
- extraverti(e) - (outgoing)
- gentil(le) - (kind)
- paresseux/paresseuse - (lazy)
- travailleur/travailleuse - (hardworking)
Describing places
- nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle - (new)
- nouvel is used before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h.
- beau/bel/belle - (beautiful)
- laid(e) -(ugly)
- propre -(clean)
- sale - (dirty)
- calme - (calm)
- bruyant(e) - (noisy)
- moderne - (modern)
- historique - (historic)
- pittoresque - (picturesque)
- verdoyant(e) - (green)
- ensoleillé(e) - (sunny)
- sombre - (dark)
- lumineux/lumineuse - (bright)
- animé(e) - (lively)
- désert(e) - (deserted)
Adjective Endings
- ending in -e: If an adjective already ends in "-e" in the masculine singular form, the feminine singular form remains the same.
Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural Rouge rouge rouge rouges Facile facile faciles faciles Jeune jeune jeunes jeunes - ending in -f: Adjectives ending in "-f" in the masculine singular usually change to "-ve" in the feminine singular.
Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural Actif active actifs actives Sportif sportive sportifs sportives - ending in -s: Adjectives ending in "-x" in the masculine singular usually change to "-se" in the feminine singular. The masculine plural form is usually the same as the masculine singular.
Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural heureux heureuse heureux heureuses sérieux sérieuse sérieux sérieuses - ending in -er: Adjectives ending in "-er" in the masculine singular add a grave accent (`) to the "e" and then add another "-e" for the feminine singular.
Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural premier première premiers premières cher chère chers chères - ending in -eau: Adjectives ending in "-eau" in the masculine singular have a feminine singular counterpart of “-elle”. Add an "-x" for the masculine plural, and "-s" for the feminine plural.
Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural beau belle beaux belles cher chère chers chères
Irregular Adjectives
Some adjectives have completely irregular feminine forms. The most common examples include:
- Blanc (white): blanc, blanche, blancs, blanches
- Sec (dry): sec, sèche, secs, sèches
- Doux (soft): doux, douce, doux, douces
Examples in Sentences:
- Le pain est blanc. (The bread is white.)
- La neige est blanche. (The snow is white.)
- Les pains sont blancs. (The breads are white.)
- Les neiges sont blanches. (The snows are white.)
Exercises
stage 0: grinding adjectives
Here is an example of using all the adjective forms:
- Le chat est petit. (The cat is small.) - chat is masculine singular, so petit is in its base form.
- La maison est petite. (The house is small.) - maison is feminine singular, so we add "-e" to petit to make petite.
- Les chats sont petits. (The cats are small.) - chats is masculine plural, so we add "-s" to petit to make petits.
- Les maisons sont petites. (The houses are small.) - maisons is feminine plural, so we add "-es" to petit to make petites.
Now do the same for these base adjectives: "grand", "heureux", "beau", "bon", "blanc", "sportif", "actif", "rouge", "premier", "cher", "blanc", "sec", "doux"
stage 1: writing exercises
- Write 20 sentences involving an adjective, one for each form: grand/grande/grands/grandes, petit/petite/petits/petites, beau/belle/beaux/belles, bon/bonne/bons/bonnes, blanc/blanche/blancs/blanches.
- Write down the feminine and plural forms of grand, petit, beau, bon.
- Translate these sentences:
- Es un libro interesante. (It’s an interesting book.)
- Tengo una casa grande. (I have a big house.)
- Ellas son mujeres bonitas. (They are beautiful women.)
- Vamos a un mercado pequeño. (We go to a small market.)
- Es un hombre viejo. (He’s an old man.)
what is 'He is tall and thin' in french?
Il est grand et mince
what is 'She is short and blonde.' in french?
Elle est petite et blonde
what is 'He is a handsome man' in french?
C'est un bel homme
what is 'She is a beautiful woman' in french?
C'est une belle femme
what is 'He has blue eyes' in french?
Il a les yeux bleus
what is 'She has red hair' in french?
Elle a les cheveux roux
stage 2: multiple choice exercises