French Adjectives

Understanding Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes or clarifies a noun.
In French, adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun they describe.
The usual place for an adjective is after the noun: ‘un livre intéressant’ (an interesting book).
Some adjectives, however, commonly go before the noun they modify, such as ‘beau’, ‘vieux’, ‘bon’, ‘petit’: ‘un beau jardin’ (a beautiful garden).
Many adjectives that describe a person’s qualities (like kind, honest, etc.) also end in ‘-eux’ for the masculine form and ‘-euse’ for the feminine.

Most adjectives form the feminine by adding ‘-e’ to the masculine form: ‘un petit garçon’ (a small boy), ‘une petite fille’ (a small girl).
If the adjective already ends in ‘-e’ in the masculine form, it doesn’t change in the feminine: ‘un jeune homme’ (a young man), ‘une jeune femme’ (a young woman).
For plural there is usually ‘-s’ added to the singular form for both masculine and feminine: ‘des chiens heureux’ (happy dogs), ‘des filles heureuses’ (happy girls).
Be careful! There are irregular adjectives that don’t follow the usual agreement rules, such as ‘beau’, ‘nouveau’, ‘vieux’ which have different forms.

Adjectives of colour usually follow the nouns they describe: ‘une robe bleue’ (a blue dress).
However, when the colour is made up of more than one word (e.g. light blue), it is invariable, which means it doesn’t agree in gender and number: ‘des chemises bleu clair’ (light blue shirts).

To make comparisons, use ‘plus’ (more), ‘moins’ (less), or ‘aussi’ (as) before the adjective: ‘Elle est plus grande que moi’ (She is taller than me).
The ‘superlative’ (the most/the least) is formed with definite articles + ‘plus/moins’ before the adjective: ‘Il est le plus intelligent’ (He is the most intelligent).
Remember, for irregular adjectives, their comparative and superlative forms are also irregular. For example, ‘bon’ (good) becomes ‘meilleur’ (better) and ‘le meilleur’ (the best).

Normally, the adjective is placed after the noun: ‘un chien noir’ (a black dog).
But certain adjectives go before the noun, primarily ones that describe beauty, age, goodness, and size (referred to by the acronym ‘BAGS’): ‘un beau château’ (a beautiful castle).
Adjectives can change meaning depending on their position: ‘un homme sûr’ means ‘a confident man’, whereas ‘un sûr homme’ implies ‘a man who can surely be trusted’. Learn these subtle differences through practice and reading.