Les adjectifs en français

ADJECTIVES IN FRENCH
WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun by
describing it in some way:
•Shape
•Color
•Size
•Nationality
 French adjectives are
different from English
adjectives in two ways:
1. Adjectives in French reflect the nouns they describe in
gender and number. 2. In French, unlike in English, they
usually follow the noun they modify.

Un garçon content Une fille contente

Des garçons contents Des filles contentes

1. French adjectives change to agree in gender and number
with the nouns that they modify, which means there can be up
to four forms of each adjective:

Adjective: joli (pretty)

    Masculine singular   joli

    Feminine singular   jolie
    Masculine plural   jolis
    Feminine plural   jolies
The regular adjectives add -e to the base masculine form if
it ends in consonant to form the feminine:

Un garçon brun Une fille brune

More than one? Add an -s to form the plural:

Des garçons bruns Des filles brunes

2. In English, adjectives are always
found in front of the noun. However,
most French adjectives follow the noun
they modify:

   un livre vert - green book

   un professeur intelligent - smart teacher
But there are some French adjectives that
precede the noun. a) Specialized adjectives
called articles--le, la, l’, les, un, une, des,
d’--always precede the noun they modify. b)
BANGS

   un beau garçon - handsome boy

   un petit verre - small glass
 BANGS: RULE FOR WRITING ADJECTIVES

B – Beauty
-beau / bel / belle / beaux / belles
A – Age
-nouveau / nouvel / nouvelle / nouveaux / nouvelles
N – Numbers
-premier / première
G - Greatness/Goodness
-mauvais / mauvaise
S – Size
-gros / grosse
• French adjectives change if they are
feminine or plural. But they can sometimes
change if they are masculine too!
• There can be up to four forms of each
adjective!
• Most French adjectives add ‘E’ for feminine
and ‘S’ for plural.
Irregular French Adjectives

There are several French adjectives

which have irregular feminine and
plural forms, as well as a special
form when they are placed in front
of a masculine noun that begins with
a vowel or a mute H:
 Singular Plural
Adjective   Masc. Vowel / H    Fem. Masc. Fem.
beautiful  beau bel belle beaux belles
nouveau  
new nouvel  nouvelle    nouveaux    nouvelles
 
crazy fou fol folle fous folles

soft mou mol molle mous molles

old vieux vieil vieille vieux vieilles

 Here are some rules to help you with irregular
adjectives?

Adjectives whose singular masculine form end in -ien need

to double the -n before adding –e to make it feminine.
Le garçon canadien La fille canadienne
For adjectives whose singular masculine form ends in -eux
change the -x to -s and then add -e to form the feminine
singular:

Le garçon heureux La fille

heureuse
 Adjectives whose singular masculine form ends in -é
add an unaccented -e to form the singular feminine:

Le garçon réservé La fille réservée

Adjectives whose singular masculine form ends in -il double

the -l and add -e to form the feminine:

Le garçon gentil La fille gentille

If more than one adjective modifies a noun, you
may connect them with et:

Une jeune fille heureuse et sympathique

Un jeune homme patient et poli

 Je Suis Super!
 
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