French/Grammar/Adjectives

Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality. Regular formation Spelling Most adjective changes occur in the following manner: Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante un ami amusant --> une amie amusante un camion lent --> une voiture lente Plural: add an -s to the singular form un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes Pronunciation Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule. Masculine Pronunciation: intéressan, amusan, len Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent Irregular formation Irregular plural formation Examples M Sing. --> M. Pl. Masc. Singular --> Masc. Plural Notes No change -s -s un plafond bas un gros porc des plafonds bas des gros porcs -x -x un homme généreux un garçon furieux des hommes généreux des garçons furieux Add x -eau -eaux un nouveau jeu des nouveaux jeux -al -aux un vent hivernal des vents hivernaux Exceptions: fatal (fatals), final (finals) & naval (navals) Irregular feminine formation Examples Masc. --> Fem. Masculine --> Feminine Notes No change -e -e égoïste, populaire, sociable, timide, énergique, dynamique, sympathique * When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is no change. * The final consonant is pronounced on the masc. form. Final Consonant Doubled -el -elle cruel cruelle When an adjective has one of these endings, the ending of the feminine form is doubled. There is no change of pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle. -il is pronounced "ee" (as in keen), while -ille is similar, with a final yuh (pronounced like "ee" in keen with a "yuh" on the end: IPA /ij/). -on is pronounced oh(n) and -onne is pronounced ohn. -en is pronounced a(n) and -enne is pronounced ehn. -os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced ohs. -as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced ahs. -il -ille gentil gentille -on -onne bon breton bonne bretonne -en -enne ancien parisien ancienne parisienne -os -osse gros grosse -as -asse bas basse -c change -c -che blanc franc blanche franche -eur change -eur -euse accrocheur prometteur accrocheuse prometteuse -eux change -eux -euse furieux généreux furieuse généreuse -eux is pronounced ew (like dew) and -euse is pronounced ews. -g change -g -gue long longue -if change -if -ive sportif actif sportive active er change -er -ère étranger cher étrangère chère -er is pronounced ay and -ère is pronounced ehr, though exceptions such as "cher" exist in which both forms are pronounced with ehr. -et change -et -ète inquiet complet inquiète complète -et is pronounced ay and -ète is pronounced eht. -ou change -ou / -ol -olle fou, fol mou, mol folle molle -ol forms occur before a vowel or mute h. Special rules Adjectives that precede nouns List Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. These are: affreux (affreuse) autre beau (belle) bon(ne) + court(e) + dernier (dernière) + gentil (gentille) grand(e) + gros(se) + haut(e) jeune + joli(e) large long(ue) mauvais(e) méchant(e) + meilleur(e) nouveau (nouvelle) pauvre petit(e) vieux (vieille) vilain(e) + sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it:Price Glanville A Comprehensive French Grammar 6 2008 Blackwell 978-1-4051-5385-0 35 des garçons courageux / de beaux garçons Changes in meaning When "grand" goes before a noun, it means "great". However, when it goes after the noun, it means "tall". Likewise, when "pauvre" goes before a noun, it means "unfortunate". When it comes after the noun, it means financially "poor". This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even when used before the nouns. Beau, nouveau, and vieux These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: Masc. Sing. Cons. Masc. Sing Vowel Masc. Plural Fem. Sing. (all) Fem. Plural Beau un beau garçonun bel individude beaux garçonsune belle fillettede belles fillettes Nouveau un nouveau camionun nouvel ordrede nouveaux ordresune nouvelle idéede nouvelles idées Vieux un vieux camionun vieil ordrede vieux camionsune vieille idéede vieilles idées Possessive adjectives A possessive adjective tells us who owns/possesses something. So, you might say, "my house", "their family" or "his dogs". The same is done in French. However unlike English, in French we use different possessive adjectives dependent not only the person who owns the object (my car vs your car etc.) but also dependent on the gender and number. E.g. If I only have one dog, I would say, "mon chien" but if I have lots of dogs, I would say, "mes chiens". Furthermore in English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the possessive adjective but the object owned. The following possessive adjectives are in the order of: masculine object, feminine object, plural (several of the object). First person singular - mon, ma, mes Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes Third person singular - son, sa, ses First person plural - notre, notre, nos Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel or silent 'h', you should utilize "Mon" instead of "Ma". Example: Mon ami = ok Ma amie = error! Mon amie = ok. Demonstrative adjectives Demonstrative adjectives identifies a specific object relative to the speaker. In English, demonstrative adjectives are words like, "this" and "these". There are four adjectives that demonstrate a specific object in French: Ce garçon (masculine) - this/that boy Cet ami (masculine before vowel or silent h) - this/that friend Cette fille (feminine) - this/that girl Ces enfants (plural) - these/those children References es:Francés/Gramática/El adjetivo ja:フランス語/文法/形容詞