French Adjectives

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French Adjectives

Learning the French Adjectives is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the French language. But first we need to know what the role of Adjectives is in the structure of the grammar in French.

An adjective is any of a class of words used to modify a noun or other substantive, as by describing qualities of the entity denoted, stating its limits or quantity, or distinguishing it from others. In French, adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun that they modify. Consequently, they possess four different forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural.

Feminine Singular

In general, the feminine singular is formed simply by adding an –e to the end of the basic masculine form. So, for example, petit becomes petite, abondant becomes abondante, grand becomes grande, and joli becomes jolie, vrai becomes vraie, and pointu becomes pointue.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, already ends in an –e, then there is no change. So, for example, aimable remains aimable, pâle remains pâle, rouge remains rouge, jaune remains jaune, pauvre remains pauvre, brave remains brave, jeune remains jeune, and malade remains malade.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –on or –ien, then the feminine singular is formed by doubling the final consonant and adding an –e. So, for example, bon becomes bonne, and ancien becomes ancienne.

Likewise, if the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –el, –ul or –eil, then the feminine singular is formed by doubling the final consonant and adding an –e. So, for example, cruel becomes cruelle, nul becomes nulle, and pareil becomes pareille.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –er, then the feminine singular is formed by converting the –e that precedes the –r to an –è and adding an –e to the end of the word. So, for example, cher becomes chère, dernier becomes dernière, fier become fière, and léger becomes légère.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –f, then the feminine singular is formed by changing the –f to a –ve. So, for example, neuf becomes neuve, vif becomes vive, naïf becomes naïve, actif becomes active, passif becomes passive, and positif becomes positive.

However, there are exceptions. For example, bref becomes brève.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –et, then the feminine singular is formed by doubling the final consonant and adding an –e. So, for example, coquet becomes coquette, muet becomes muette, and net becomes nette.

However, this is not always the case. Certain adjectives in this category follow a different declension, in which the –et is changed to an –ète. Examples include: complet→ complète; incomplet→ incomplète; concret→ concrète; désuet→ désuète; discret→ discrète; inquiet→ inquiète; secret→secrète.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –ot, then the feminine singular is formed by adding an –e. So, for example, idiot becomes idiote.

Here again, there are exceptions: pâlot→ pâlotte; sot→ sotte; vieillot→ vieillotte.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –x, then the feminine singular is formed by changing the –x to an –se. So, for example, nerveux becomes nerveuse, heureux becomes heureuse, sérieux becomes sérieuse, and jaloux becomes jalouse. However, there are exceptions: doux→ douce; faux→ fausse; roux→ rousse;

vieux→ vieille.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in an –s, then the feminine singular is formed by adding an –e. So, for example, gris becomes grise.

Needless to say, there are exceptions: bas→ basse; gras→ grasse; épais→ épaisse; frais→ fraîche.

If the adjective, in its basic masculine form, ends in a –c, then the feminine singular is formed by changing the –c to a –che. So, for example, franc becomes franche, and blanc becomes blanche.

Exceptions exist: sec→ sèche; public→ publique; turc→ turque; grec→ grecque; chic→ chic.

Here are some more examples:

English Adjectives	French Adjectives
adjectives	adjectifs
a green tree	un arbre vert
a tall building	un grand bâtiment
a very old man	un très vieil homme
the old red house	la vieille maison rouge
a very nice friend	un ami très gentil

Notice the structure of the Adjectives in French has a logical pattern. Locate the Adjectives above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in French.

Grammar Tips:

While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes, in French an adjective should agree in gender and number with the noun. For example:

a) Masculine to feminine example:

C’est mon petit garçon (this is my little son) becomes: C’est ma petite fille (this is my little daughter)

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes before the noun and also takes the feminine form.

b) Singular to plural example:

C’est mon chat blanc (this is my white cat) becomes: Ce sont mes chats blancs (these are my white cats).

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes after the noun and also takes the plural form.

Be careful though for colors, if the adjective is also a noun, it doesn’t take an (s). If the color is formed by two words, no (s) either and finally if the object described has more than one color, no (s) for the adjective. See the following examples:

Une chaussette orange (one orange sock) becomes: Deux chaussettes orange (two orange socks) as orange is also a fruit.

Une chemise bleu foncé (a dark blue shirt) becomes: Des chemises bleu foncé (dark blue shirts)

Une chaussure blanc et noir (a white and black shoe) becomes: Des chaussures blanc et noir (white and black shoes)

List of Adjectives in French

Below is a list of the Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes in French placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your French vocabulary.

English Adjectives	French Adjectives
colors	couleurs
black	noir
blue	bleu
brown	brun
gray	gris
green	vert
orange	orange
purple	violet
red	rouge
white	blanc
yellow	jaune

sizes	tailles
big	grand
deep	profond
long	long
narrow	étroit
short	court
small	petit
tall	haut
thick	épais
thin	mince
wide	large

shapes	formes
circular	circulaire
straight	tout droit
square	carré
triangular	triangulaire

tastes	les goûts
bitter	amer
fresh	frais
salty	salé
sour	aigre
spicy	épicé
sweet	doux

qualities	qualités
bad	mauvais
clean	propre
dark	sombre
difficult	difficile
dirty	sale
dry	sec
easy	facile
empty	vide
expensive	cher
fast	rapide
foreign	étranger
full	plein
good	bon
hard	dur
heavy	lourd
inexpensive	peu coûteux
light	léger
local	local
new	nouveau
noisy	bruyant
old	vieux
powerful	puissant
quiet	calme
correct	correct
slow	lent
soft	doux
very	très
weak	faible
wet	humide
wrong	faux
young	jeune

quantities	quantités
few	peu
little	peu
many	beaucoup
much	beaucoup
part	partie
some	certains
a few	quelques
whole	ensemble

Position of Adjectives

In general, adjectives follow the noun or nouns that they serve to modify.

There are, however, exceptions: beau, bon, court, gentil, grand, gros, haut, jeune, joli, long, mauvais, méchant, meilleur, moindre, petit, pire, vieux, and vilain.

Some adjectives possess a different meaning depending on their position. Here is a brief list of examples:

ancien: if ancien precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “former”; if, on the other hand, ancien follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “ancient”;

brave: if brave precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “good”; if, on the other hand, brave follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “brave”;

certain: if certain precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “some”; if, on the other hand, certain follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “sure”;

cher: if cher precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “dear”; if, on the other hand, cher follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “expensive”;

dernier: if dernier precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “last” (as in final); if, on the other hand, dernier follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “last” (as in latest);

grand: if grand precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “great”; if, on the other hand, grand follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “big” or “tall”;

même: if même precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “same”; if, on the other hand, même follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “very”;

pauvre: if pauvre precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “poor” (as in pitiable); if, on the other hand, pauvre follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “poor” (as in not rich);

propre: if propre precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “own”; if, on the other hand, propre follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “clean”;

seul: if seul precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “single” or “only”; if, on the other hand, seul follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “alone” or “lonely”;

simple: if simple precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “mere”; if, on the other hand, simple follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “simple”;

vrai: if vrai precedes the noun that it serves to modify, it means “real”; if, on the other hand, vrai follows the noun that it serves to modify, it means “true”.

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