Adjectifs placs avant le nom

(Adjectives that Precede the Noun)

Generally speaking, adjectives are placed after the noun in French.
La Maison blanche est un btiment intressant.
Here blanche follows its noun: maison, while intressant follows its noun: btiment.
However, there are certain exceptions that are placed before the noun. To help you
remember these adjectives, use the acronym B.A.N.G.S. The B stands for Beauty, A
for Age, N for Number, G for Goodness, and S for Size. This chart will give you
some examples of adjectives that fall into these categories.
Category
Beauty
Age
Number
Goodness
Size

Adjectives
beau, joli
beautiful, pretty
nouveau, vieux, jeune new, old, young
trois, cent
three, hundred
bon, mauvais, gentil
good, bad, nice
grand, petit, gros
tall, small, fat

Like all adjectives, these ones vary in form based on the gender and number of the
noun they modify. Some of these adjectives are irregular, and have special forms. The
following table reviews the behavior of bon, beau, nouveau, and vieux.
Masculine singular
bon
beau
nouveau
vieux

Masc. before vowel

bel
nouvel
vieil

Feminine singular
bonne
belle
nouvelle
vieille

Masculine plural
bons
beaux
nouveaux
vieux

Beauty:
Un beau garon (a handsome young man)
Un bel homme (a handsome man)
Une jolie femme (a pretty woman)
Age:
J'ai achet une nouvelle voiture ! (I bought a new car!)
Cest un vieil appartement. (Its an old apartment.)
J'ai retrouv de vieux amis. (I have found some old friends.)
Number:
Mes trois surs sont gentilles. (My three sisters are kind.)
Jai vingt cousins. (I have twenty cousins.)

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Feminine plural
bonnes
belles
nouvelles
vieilles

Adjectifs placs avant le nom

(Adjectives that Precede
the Noun)
Goodness:
Ils sont mauvais en math ! (They are bad at math!)
Cest une bonne tarte. (Its a good pie.)
Size:
Cest un grand problme. (Its a big problem.)
Le Petit Prince est mon livre prfr. (The Little Prince is my favorite book.)
Remember that des generally changes to de when it is followed by an adjective + noun,
but not when followed by a noun + adjective.

Mon cousin a de belles fleurs dans son jardin.

(My cousin has pretty flowers in his yard.)
Mon cousin a des fleurs rouges dans son jardin.
(My cousin has red flowers in his yard.)

Adjectifs placs avant le nom

2014 Middlebury Interactive Languages.

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