Les adjectifs (Agreement & Position)
Adjective gender/number agreement, position rules (before/after noun), and irregular forms.
French adjectives must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they describe. Most adjectives come AFTER the noun: the opposite of English! But a small group of very common adjectives (size, beauty, age, goodness) come BEFORE the noun.
ADJECTIVE AGREEMENT: complete system of endings
BASIC RULE: masculine singular = base form. Add -E for feminine (if not already ending in -E). Add -S for masculine plural. Add -ES for feminine plural
SAME MASCULINE AND FEMININE (end in -E): timide (shy)
-EUX→-EUSE: heureux (happy) → heureuse (happy (f.)), sérieux (serious (m.)) → sérieuse (serious (f.)), amoureux (in love (m.)) → amoureuse (in love (f.)), curieux (curious) → curieuse (curious (f.))
-EUR→-EUSE (for describing people): menteur (liar) → menteuse (liar (f.)), travailleur (hard-working) → travailleuse (hardworking (f.)), chanteur (singer (m.)) → chanteuse (singer (f.)) (but: meilleur (better/best (m.)) → meilleure (better/best (f.)): regular)
SPECIAL FORMS before masculine vowel-starting nouns: beau (beautiful/handsome) → «bel» (un bel homme (a handsome man)), vieux (old) → «vieil» (un vieil arbre (an old tree)), nouveau (new) → nouvel (un nouvel ami (a new friend)). Feminine: belle (beautiful), vieille (old), nouvelle (new) (always, not just before vowel).
- un garçon grand → une fille grande → des garçons grands → des filles grandes — a tall boy → a tall girl → tall boys → tall girls
- un homme heureux → une femme heureuse (-eux → -euse) — a happy man → a happy woman (-eux → -euse)
- un ancien ami → une ancienne amie (-ien → -ienne) — an old/former friend (m) → (f)
- un beau garçon → une belle fille (-eau → -elle) — a handsome boy → a beautiful girl
ADJECTIVE POSITION: after or before the noun?
DEFAULT: adjectives go AFTER the noun: une maison blanche (a white house), un livre intéressant (an interesting book), une femme intelligente (an intelligent woman), un problème difficile (a difficult problem). This is the opposite of English.
BEFORE THE NOUN: BAGS adjectives: Beauty (beau (beautiful/handsome), joli (pretty)), Age (vieux (old), jeune (young), nouveau (new)), Goodness (bon (good), mauvais (bad), gentil (kind), méchant (mean/naughty)), Size (grand (big/tall), petit (small/little), gros (big/fat), long (long (m.))). Memory aid: BAGS. Note: court (short (m.)) and haut (high/tall) normally go AFTER the noun instead: un mur haut (a high wall), les cheveux courts (short hair).
ADJECTIVES THAT CHANGE MEANING BY POSITION: un grand homme (a great man) = an important, admired man · un homme grand (a tall man) = a man of great height
MULTIPLE ADJECTIVES: if both come after the noun, connect with et: une femme intelligente et sympathique (an intelligent, friendly woman). If both come before: un beau jeune homme (a handsome young man)
Common mistake: putting intéressant before the noun. 'une intéressante histoire' is wrong. Correct: une histoire intéressante (an interesting story)
Common mistake: saying 'un homme grand' when you mean a great man. Position carries the meaning: un grand homme (a great man) is admired, un homme grand (a tall man) is physically tall
- une belle maison (BEFORE: beauty) — a beautiful house (belle before noun)
- un petit appartement (BEFORE: size) — a small apartment (petit before noun)
- un livre intéressant (AFTER: most adjectives) — an interesting book (after noun)
C'EST vs IL/ELLE EST: both mean 'he/she/it is', but the word that follows decides which one you need.
IL/ELLE EST + adjective (no noun): Il est grand. (He is tall.). Elle est intelligente. (She is smart.). Il est médecin. (He is a doctor.) (an unmodified profession behaves like an adjective here — no article, no c'est).
C'EST + article + noun (with or without an adjective): C'est un médecin. (He/She is a doctor.) (with an article, you need c'est, never il/elle est). C'est une femme intelligente. (She is an intelligent woman.) (a noun — femme — follows, even though there's an adjective too).
THE TEST: look at what comes right after être. An adjective alone → il/elle est. An article + noun → c'est. Il est intelligent (he is smart) (adjective) vs C'est un homme intelligent (he is an intelligent man) (article + noun).
Common mistake: Il est un médecin: once there's an article (un/une/le/la), you must switch to c'est: C'est un médecin (he is a doctor).
Common mistake: C'est intelligent ((missing noun/unclear referent)) when describing a specific person with just an adjective: use Il/Elle est intelligent(e) (he/she is smart) instead — c'est needs a noun or stands alone for pointing things out.
- Il est professeur. C'est un bon professeur. — He is a teacher. He is a good teacher.
- Elle est sympathique. C'est une fille sympathique. — She is nice. She is a nice girl.