By the end of this lesson you'll be able to make an adjective match the noun it describes, and decide whether it goes before or after that noun.
Adjectives match their nouns
An adjective is a word that describes a noun. In the lesson on describing people you saw pairs like grand / grande. Now here's the system behind them. A French adjective takes its form from the noun it describes: masculine or feminine, singular or plural. This is called agreement.
The usual endings are simple. Start from the masculine singular, the form you'll find in a dictionary.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | grand | grands |
| Feminine | grande | grandes |
The plural follows the same logic as nouns in the lesson on plural nouns, and its -s is just as silent. Add -e for feminine, add -s for plural, and for feminine plural add both.
Mon frère est content.
My brother is happy.
Mes sœurs sont contentes.
My sisters are happy.
Three more details:
- If the masculine already ends in -e, the feminine is the same: un homme timide, une femme timide.
- If the masculine already ends in -s or -x, the masculine plural is the same: il est français, ils sont français.
- A group that includes even one masculine noun takes the masculine plural: Paul et Marie sont contents.
The words you need for this lesson's practice are here. Some are review.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le frère | luh FREHR | the brother |
| la sœur | lah SUHR | the sister |
| le film | luh FEELM | the film |
| rouge | roozh | red |
| moderne | moh-DEHRN | modern |
| intéressant / intéressante | an-tay-reh-SAHN / an-tay-reh-SAHNT | interesting (masculine / feminine) |
Other feminine patterns
Some adjectives change a little more than just adding -e. Each pattern applies to many words, so these are worth learning. You've already seen one of them in the lesson on countries and nationalities.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| content / contente | kohn-TAHN / kohn-TAHNT | happy, pleased (masculine / feminine)Most adjectives: add -e. |
| jeune | zhuhn | youngAlready ends in -e, so no change. It's also a BAGS adjective, so it goes before the noun (un jeune homme). |
| heureux / heureuse | uh-RUH / uh-RUHZ | happy (masculine / feminine)-eux → -euse |
| sportif / sportive | spor-TEEF / spor-TEEV | sporty (masculine / feminine)-if → -ive |
| italien / italienne | ee-tah-LYAN / ee-tah-LYEN | Italian (masculine / feminine)-ien → -ienne |
Others double the final consonant, like gentil / gentille (kind) and bon / bonne.
Where the adjective goes
Here French is the opposite of English. Most adjectives go after the noun. That includes colours, nationalities and most descriptions.
un film français
a French film
une table rouge et moderne
a modern red table
A small group of very common adjectives goes before the noun. English-speaking learners often remember them as BAGS:
- Beauty: beau, joli
- Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau
- Goodness: bon, mauvais
- Size: grand, petit, gros
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| beau / belle | boh / bel | beautiful, good-looking (masculine / feminine) |
| joli / jolie | zhoh-LEE | pretty (masculine / feminine) |
| vieux / vieille | vyuh / vyay | old (masculine / feminine) |
| nouveau / nouvelle | noo-VOH / noo-VEL | new (masculine / feminine) |
| bon / bonne | bohn / bonn | good (masculine / feminine) |
| mauvais / mauvaise | moh-VEH / moh-VEZ | bad (masculine / feminine) |
| gros / grosse | groh / grohs | big (masculine / feminine)About a person it's blunt, like saying 'fat'. |
une jolie robe
a pretty dress
un gros sac
a big bag
Agreement still applies: un petit livre, une petite table. BAGS tells you the position, and the noun tells you the ending. Note, too, that beau, nouveau and vieux have a special form before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel: un bel ami, un nouvel ordinateur, un vieil homme. You can recognize these for now.
Putting it together
To describe something, ask two questions in order. Which ending? Look at the noun: masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Which side? If it's a BAGS word, put it before the noun. Otherwise, put it after.
For example, for "the pretty red cars": voitures is feminine plural, so you need jolies and rouges. Jolies is a BAGS word, and colours go after: les jolies voitures rouges.
What's next
You now have everything you need for the review of this unit, where you'll write about your own family. It's a good moment to go back to the lesson on mon, ma and mes too, since ma petite sœur uses both ideas. After that, the next unit begins with the lesson on regular -er verbs.