French adjectives – Les adjectifs français
Let’s start with understanding what an adjective is and what its function is. An adjective modifies a noun and sometimes a pronoun. Its main function is to provide information regarding the size, shape, color etc. It’s a very important part of the speech as it can change drastically the context of the phrase.
In English adjectives are put before the noun and your job is done. Whereas in French, you have to do a couple of “manipulations”. First of all, the placement of adjectives varies. It changes depending on the nouns but also context. Second, adjectives change depending on the nouns gender and number. It seems tricky at first but we’re here to help you.
Adjective position
Most adjectives in French language are placed after the noun they describe:
un chien noir | black dog |
des filles tristes | sad girls |
Remember that adjectives that describe color, taste, nationality, personality or mood are placed after the noun.
Here’s some more examples :
une echarpe blanche | a white scarf |
un garçon gentil | a nice boy |
des touristes Allemands | German tourists |
une sauce salée | a salty sauce |
However, as always there are exceptions. There are adjectives that are placed before the noun and they usually belong to the BANGS group.
Beauty | une jolie dame | a beautiful lady |
Age | un vieil homme | an old man |
Number | deux pommes | two apples |
Goodness | une bonne histoire | a good story |
Size | des grands bâtiments | big buildings |
Gender and quantity agreement
As mentioned earlier, you have to be aware of gender and quantity agreement rules. For the most common adjectives you would just add an e for the feminine, an s for masculine plural and an es for feminine plural.
This is the easiest rule that you can follow in most cases:
M | F | MP | FP | |
grand | grande | grands | grandes | great/tall/ big |
petit | petite | petits | petites | small |
bleu | bleue | bleus | bleues | blue |
Please check the spreadsheet with all the possible endings and the changes you have to make
You will sometimes encounter adjectives that end with consonants like s, n or l when in masculine form. Well, don’t worry, the feminine form will just end with that double consonant and an e while the plural form will end with an s:
M | F | MP | FP | |
bon | bonne | bons | bonnes | good |
gentil | gentille | gentils | gentilles | nice/kind |
gros | grosse | gros | grosses | fat |
Irregular French adjectives
Irregular French adjectives are those that don’t follow the common rules, the exceptions.
We decided to show you three most reoccurring examples :
M | *M | F | MP | FP | |
nouveau | nouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles | new |
beau | bel | belle | beaux | belles | beautiful |
vieux | vieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles | old |
*Why is there another masculine form, you’d ask? It’s quite easy. The adjectives “beau” and “nouveau” become “bel” and “nouvel” before masculine nouns starting with a vowel or a silent “h”.
And that’s that. These are the basic and simple rules to follow with French adjectives so you don’t waste your precious time on learning everything by heart.
To know more about French Verbs, click HERE.