Some adjectives are usually placed before the noun:
(a) beau ‘handsome’, bon ‘good’, bref ‘short’, dernier ‘last’, gentil ‘nice’, grand ‘great’, gros ‘big’, haut ‘high’, jeune ‘young’, joli ‘pretty’, long ‘long’, mauvais ‘bad’, meilleur ‘better’, moindre ‘lesser’, nombreux ‘many’, nouveau ‘new’, petit ‘little’, premier ‘first’, vaste ‘huge, vieux ‘old’, vrai ‘real’, vilain ‘ugly’…
une belle femme a lovely woman big feet
un long voyage a long journey
la première page the first page
(b) some of these, in certain contexts, follow the noun:
la marée haute high tide
d’un ton bref curtly
and with days of the week, seasons, parts of the year:
l’ été prochain next summer
la semaine dernière last week
otherwise , they precede the noun.
Some adjectives change their meaning according to their position:
ancien:
une maison ancienne/une ancienne maison a (very) old house/a former house
cher:
un livre cher/mes chers amis an expensive book/my dear friends
dernier:
lundi dernier/la dernière page last Monday/the last (of a series) page
nouveau:
un mot nouveau/une nouvelle voiture a new (original)
word/a new (could be second-hand) car
pauvre:
une fille pauvre/une pauvre fille
propre:
les mains propres/tes propres paroles
clean hands/your own words
seul:
une femme seule/le seul candidat
a lonely woman/the only candidate
a poor (not rich) girl/a poor girl (pity her)
If more than one adjective follows the noun, and each refers to a distinct and equal characteristic, they are linked by et. But if they form a unit of meaning with the noun there is no need for et. Usually, the longest adjective is placed last:
une vue triste et sans intérêt
a sad, boring view
but
la scène politique anglaise the British political scene
le parti démocrate américain the American democratic party
Note the different order in French and English when a number is used with an adjective preceding a noun:
Les trois premiers étudiants recevront les bourses.
The first three students will receive the grants.
There are usually some exceptions to the feminine forms of adjectives,.
- feminine adjectives are mostly formed by adding e to the masculine form:
fort/forte ‘strong’, écossais/écossaise ‘Scottish’, direct/directe ‘direct’, noir/noire ‘black’
If the masculine form ends in an e, there is no need for change in the feminine form:
Jeune (m and f) ‘young, aimable (m and f) ‘pleasant’
But if the masculine form ends in é an e must be added to make the adjective feminine:
nominé/nominée ‘nominated, shortlisted’, énervé/énervée ‘excited, irritated’
(b) if the masculine adjective ends in -as, -el-, -eil, -en, -et, -on double the last consonant and add e:
bas/basse ‘low’, traditionnel/traditionnelle ‘traditional’,
pareil/pareille ‘like’, italien/italienne Italian’, cadet/cadette ‘younger (brother/sister)’, bon/bonne ‘good’
Note the exceptions -et > -ète: complet/complète ‘full, complete’, inquiet/inquiète ‘worried’, concret/concrète ‘concrete’…
(c) some feminine adjectives require specific changes:
-er > -ère premier/première first
-f>-ve attentif/attentive attentive
-eux > -euse heureux/heureuse happy
-teur > -trice consolateur/consolatrice comforting
-eur>-euse menteur/menteuse deceitful
Note that a small group of comparative adjectives ending in -eur form the
feminine by adding e
meilleur(e) ‘better’, supérieur(e) ‘superior, upper’, inférieur(e) ‘inferior, lower, extérieur(e) ‘exterior, external”, intérieur(e) at ‘interior’, antérieur(e) ‘prior, previous’, postérieur(e) ‘later, subsequent, ultérieur(e) further, majeur(e) ‘major’, mineur(e) ‘minor’.
(d) adjectives ending in – in -at, -ot add e to form the feminine: délicat(e) ‘delicate’. Note the exceptions: sot/sotte ‘stupid’, vieillot/vieillotte ‘quaint’, boulot/boulotte ‘tubby’, pâlot/pâlotte ‘rather pale’.
(e) adjectives ending in -in, -ain, -ein, -un add e (they do not double the last consonant): voisin/voisine ‘neighbouring, hautain/hautaine haughty, plein/pleine ‘full’, commun/commune’common….
(f) adjectives ending in -gu>-guë: aigu/aiguë ‘sharp.
(g) some special forms:
blanc/blanche ‘white’, doux/douce ‘soft, gentle, favori/favorite ‘favourite’, frais/fraîche ‘fresh, cool’, franc/franche ‘frank, open’, long/longue ‘long’, public/publique ‘public’, sec/sèche ‘dry’…
(h) There are five adjectives which have two masculine singular forms – the second is used before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or a mute h. It is from the second form that the feminine adjective is formed by doubling the last consonant and adding e:
un beau garçon a handsome boy
un homme fou a crazy man
un coussin mou a soft cushion
un nouveau directeur a new manager
un vieux soulier an old shoe
un bel arbre a fine tree
un fol espoir a silly hope
un nouvel habit a new coat
un vieil homme an old man
une belle dame a beautiful lady
une folle amie a foolish friend
une molle résistance feeble resistance
une nouvelle robe a new dress
une vieille femme an old woman
The two masculine singular forms have only one plural form: beaux, fous, mous, nouveaux, vieux.
The adjectives grand, demi, nu do not always follow the above guidelines:
(a) grand does not add an e in feminine compound nouns: grand-mère ‘grandmother’, grand-route ‘highway’, grand-rue ‘main street’, grand-place ‘main square’, grand-faim ‘very hungry’, grand-soif ‘very thirsty’, ne… grand-chose ‘not very much.
J’ai grand-faim. I’m very hungry.
C’est où la grand-place? Where is the main square?
Il n’a pas dit grand-chose. He didn’t say much.
The plural forms of the first three in the list can be written with or without an s: grand(s)-mères, grand(s)-routes, grand(s)-rues.
(b) The adjectives grand, large, frais, premier, dernier followed by a past participle agree with their noun:
une fenêtre grande ouverte a wide open window
les fleurs fraîches cueillies freshly cut flowers
Note that in the case of mort ‘dead’, nouveau ‘new’, court ‘short’, haut ‘high’ followed by a past participle there is no agreement, whatever the gender and number of the noun:
une enfant mort-née a still-born child
leurs fils nouveau-nés their new-born sons
(c) demi ‘half’, preceding and linked to a noun by a hyphen, does not agree with its noun, but when it follows a noun and is linked to it by et, it agrees in gender only:
une demi-heure a half hour
trois demi-kilos three half kilos
une heure et demie an hour and a half/1.30
dix litres et demi ten and a half litres
(d) nu ‘bare’, preceding and linked to a noun by a hyphen, does not agree with its noun, but when it follows a noun it agrees with it in gender and number:
nu-tête bareheaded
nu-pieds barefoot
Elles sont tête nue, pieds nus. They are bareheaded, barefoot.
Agreement of adjectives of colour
(a) adjectives of colour normally agree in gender and number with their noun:
une fleur blanche a white flower
des fleurs blanches white flowers
(b) compound adjectives do not agree with their noun:
une jupe bleu foncé a dark blue skirt
des jupes bleu foncés dark blue skirts