Les Adjectifs

Characteristics of french adjectives

• Modify nouns
• Must agree in gender and number with nouns
• Usually follow nouns
• May be modified by adverbs
English adjectives have a single form, but in French, they can have up to 4* forms, according to
the gender and number of the nouns they modify:

masculine masculine plural

singular
feminine singular feminine plural
Masculine singular is the default form, to which the feminine and/or plural endings are added.
For regular adjectives,** these endings are e for feminine and s for plural.
Par exemple…
petit (small)
le petit verre les petits verres
la petite tasse les petites tasses

When the default form of the adjective ends in s or x, the masculine singular and plural forms
are the same.
Par exemple…
surpris (surprised)

Il est surpris. Ils sont surpris.

Elle est surprise. Elles sont surprises.
 While English adjectives
are always placed in front
of the nouns they
describe, most French
adjectives follow nouns:
Par exemple…

le stylo bleu the blue pen

une histoire an interesting
intéressante story
 Compare two nouns with one adjective
Cet arbre est plus This tree is taller. Cet arbre est plus grand que This tree is taller than the other
grand. l’autre. one.
The pink blouse is more expensive
Le chemisier rose est plus cher than the black blouse
Ta voiture est moins Your car is less que le chemesier noir
bruyante. noisy.
Ta voiture est moins bruyante que Your car is less noisy than mine.
Ils sont aussi They’re just as
la mienne.
contents. happy.
Le chemisier rose est moins cher The pink blouse is less expensive
que le chemesier noir than the black blouse

Ils sont aussi contents que moi. They’re as happy as I am.

La jupe bleu est aussi jolie que la The blue skirt is as pretty as the
jupe rouge red skirt
Paul est aussi grand que pierre Paul is as taller as peter