Adjectifs
One of the eight parts of speech, adjectives are a type of modifier; that is, they modify or describe nouns in a certain way, letting you know the size, shape, weight, color, nationality, or any of a myriad other possible qualities of nouns.
Adjectives serve the same purpose in French and English, but they are very different in two other respects.
1. Gender and Number
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 singular | masculine plural | |
| 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, 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. |
When the default form of the adjective ends in e, the masculine and feminine forms are the same.
Par exemple…
calme (calme)
| un homme calme | des hommes calmes | |
| une femme calme | des femmes calmes |
*There are a few adjectives that have 5 forms. These will be addressed in a future lesson, along with irregular feminine and plural forms.
2. Placement
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 intéressante | an interesting story |
There are however a few dozen French adjectives that precede nouns. Most of these can be memorized with the simple acronym BAGS:
| Beauty | une belle fille un joli appartement | a beautiful girl a nice apartment |
| Age | un jeune homme une vieille dame | a young man an old woman |
| Good and bad | une bonne idée un mauvais restaurant | a good idea a bad restaurant |
| Size | un grand livre une petite maison | a big book a small house |
Exceptions to this rule as well as adjectives that change meaning depending on their placement will be addressed in future lessons.
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