Adjectives

An adjective is a word that is used to describe

something or someone.
They are formed from:
• Nouns: la tradition – traditionnel(le)
• Present participles: vivant – vivant(e)
• Past participles: fumé – fumé(e)
In French, adjectives have to agree with the
noun that it is describing, whether it is
masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

Here are the general endings for adjectives:

Masculine Feminine
Singular - E
Plural S ES

Ma mère a les cheveux blonds.

Elle a des amies françaises.
However, adjectives which already end in E
doesn’t need another one in the feminine but
an S still needs to be added for plurals.
Une amie timide
Des cousins timides
For adjectives that end in a single consonant,
double the consonant and add E:
Masculine Feminine
EL culturel culturelle
IL gentil gentille
AS gras grasse
ET muet muette
EN ancien ancienne
Some adjectives have their own patterns:
• ER changes to ÈRE
Premier/première
• X changes to SE
Heureux/heureuse
- Exceptions: Faux/fausse
• EUR changes to EUSE
Menteur/menteuse
- Exceptions: Meilleur, extérieur, intérieur (just add an E)
• F changes to VE
Sportif/sportive
• C changes to CHE or QUE
Blanc/blanche
Public/publique
• Adjectives that end in X don’t require an S in
the plural.
Mes parents heureux
• Adjectives ending in AL or EAU change to AUX
in the plural.
Beau/beaux
International/internationaux
Here are some examples of adjectives which
don’t change whether they are masculine,
feminine, singular or plural:
• Marron
• Sympa
• Orange
• Super
• This also applies to any compound colours:
Une robe vert clair
 Negative adjectives
• Some adjectives become negative using a prefix:
- (in)croyable
- (im)possible
- (ir)réel
- (mé)content
- (mal)honnête
• Some adjectives become negative by placing the
words PAS TRÈS or PEU:
Peu amusant
Pas très intéressant
Some adjectives have their own patterns whether
they are masculine, feminine, singular or plural:
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Singular singular Plural plural
beau belle beaux belles
nouveau nouvelle nouveaux nouvelles
long longue longs longues
bon bonne bons bonnes
gros grosse gros grosses
vieux vielle vieux vielles
Beau, nouveau, and vieux become bel, nouvel and
vieil before a masculine noun that starts with a
vowel or a silent H.
 Position of adjectives
• Most adjectives go after the noun
Les cheveux blonds
• Some adjectives go before the noun
Les nouvelles technologies
 Position of adjectives
The following adjectives can go before and after the
noun but their meaning is different depending on
the position of the adjective:
Adjective Meaning before the noun Meaning after the noun
grand tall great
ancien Previous/former old
cher dear expensive
propre own clean
brave decent brave

Son ancien mari/une femme ancienne

• When there are several adjectives describing
one noun, all adjectives are in their normal
places
Les beaux yeux bleus
• If there are two adjectives after the noun,
they are linked with ET
Un maillot de foot bleu et blanc
• When an adjective describes two or more
nouns which are a mixture of masculine and
feminine nouns, the adjective takes on the
masculine plural form
Un stylo et une gomme bleus.