How French works
Adjectives are words that give information about a noun . Most often adjectives indicate a quality possessed by a noun, and these are called qualificative adjectives. The remaining adjectives give information about the scope of reference of a noun, and these fall under the category of determiner (see 6:2).
Adjectives must agree in number and in gender with the noun(s) to which they refer.
If there are two nouns of differing gender, the adjective used must be masculine plural :
Des hommes et des femmes importants
Important men and women
If there are two nouns in the singular , the adjective used must be in the plural :
Un homme et une femme importants
An important man and woman
When a plural noun is modified by more than one adjective , the rule is as follows. If the meaning is such that there is only one noun for each adjective, then each adjective is singular :
Les économies française et britannique
The French and British economies
But if the meaning is such that there is more than one noun for each adjective , then each adjective is plural :
Les différentes compagnies françaises et britanniques représentées au salon
The various French and British companies represented at the fair
Generally adjectives take an -e in the feminine and an -s in the plural . Adjectives which already end with an -e or -s remain unchanged in the singular and plural respectively:
un homme maigre → une femme maigre
un plafond bas → des plafonds bas
Many adjectives have irregular feminine and plural forms. Some follow distinct patterns of inflection :
| masc sing | masc plural | fem sing | fem plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| –as | –as | –asse | –asses |
| –c | –cs | –que | –ques |
| –eau | –eaux | –elle | –elles |
| –el | –els | –elle | –elles |
| –en | –ens | –enne | –ennes |
| –er | –ers | –ère | –ères |
| –eux | –eux | –euse | –euses |
| –f | –fs | –ve | –ves |
| –gu | –gus | –guë | –guës |
| masculine | feminine / plural |
|---|---|
| un projet gouvernemental | des projets gouvernementaux |
| a government project | government projects |
| une conférence internationale | des mesures internationales |
| an international conference | international measures |
| du foie gras | des matières grasses |
| foie gras | fat (content) |
| les services publics | une offre publique d’achat |
| public services | a takeover bid |
| des frères jumeaux | des soeurs jumelles |
| twin brothers | twin sisters |
| des motifs personnels | des méthodes traditionnelles |
| personal motives | traditional methods |
| un organisme européen | une société européenne |
| a European body | a European company |
| des appareils ménagers | des tâches ménagères |
| household appliances | household jobs |
| un choix malheureux | une coïncidence malheureuse |
| an unfortunate choice | an unfortunate coincidence |
| des moyens primitifs | des méthodes primitives |
| primitive means | primitive methods |
| un sens ambigu | des idées ambiguës |
| an amibiguous meaning | ambiguous ideas |
However, some adjectives do not follow any of these patterns:
| masculine | feminine / plural |
|---|---|
| un sujet banal | des propos banals |
| a banal subject | banal remarks |
| un cheval blanc | la Maison Blanche |
| a white horse | the White House |
| un séjour bref | une apparition brève |
| a short stay | a brief appearance |
| un esprit créateur | une personne créatrice |
| a creative mind | a creative person |
| un échec complet | une collection complète |
| a complete failure | a complete collection |
| un tissu doux | la peau douce |
| a soft material | soft skin |
| un tapis épais | une couche épaisse |
| a thick rug | a thick layer |
| un faux numéro | une fausse alerte |
| a wrong number | a false alarm |
| un poème favori | une histoire favorite |
| a favourite film | a favourite story |
| un portrait flatteur | une photographie flatteuse |
| a flattering portrait | a flattering photograph |
| un chien fou | un histoire folle |
| a mad dog | a crazy stor |
| de l’air frais | de l’eau fraîche |
| fresh air | fresh water |
| un soldat grec | une salade grecque |
| a Greek soldier | a Greek salad |
| un long film | une longue lettre |
| a long film | a long letter |
| le secteur naval | des chantiers navals |
| the shipbuilding sector | shipyards |
| le salaire net | une perte nette |
| net salary | net loss |
| des cheveux roux | une barbe rousse |
| red hair | a red beard |
| un vin sec | une matière sèche |
| a dry wine | a dry material |
| un vieux couple | une vieille femme |
| an old couple | an old woman |
Some adjectives have special masculine forms ending in -l which are used before a vowel or an unaspirated h:
Un beau quartier → un bel animal
Un nouveau rapport → un nouvel organisme
Un vieux professeur → un vieil homme
Note that some adjectives are invariable :
Most nouns used as adjectives of colour (except rose)
des cheveux marron, des chaussures orange
brown hair, orange shoes
Adjectives of colours that are qualified by a noun or adjective:
une chaise vert olive, des yeux bleu clair
an olive-green chair, light blue eyes
These are invariable when placed before the noun to which they refer:
Il a commandé une demi-bouteille
He ordered a half-bottle
Il jouait nu-pieds
He was playing barefoot
Veuillez trouver ci-joint la documentation que vous avez demandée
Pleased find enclosed the documents you asked for
When using the expression avoir l’air, the agreement is made with the subject :
La maison a l’air mal entretenue
The house looks run down
However, when the subject is a person, then the agreement can be either with the subject or the noun air:
Elle n’a pas l’air très content / contente
She doesn't look very happy
Elle est très chic / snob
She's very fashionable / snobbish
Adjectives can be used in two different ways, attributively and predicatively: an attributive adjective is one which qualifies a noun within the same noun phrase , as in un chapeau rouge ; a predicative adjective is one which is linked to a head noun by a verb, as in le chapeau est rouge.
Most attributive adjectives are placed after the noun which they modify. However, a substantial number of commonly used adjectives are usually placed before the noun:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| autre | other |
| double | double |
| beau | beautiful |
| excellent | excellent |
| bon | good |
| grand | big, tall |
| chaque | each |
| gros | fat |
| court | short |
| haut | high |
| demi | half |
| jeune | young |
| joli | pretty |
| petit | small |
| long | long |
| plusieurs | several |
| mauvais | bad |
| prochain | next |
| méchant | bad |
| quelque | some |
| meilleur | better |
| tel | such |
| nouveau | new |
| vieux | old |
Prochain and dernier come after the noun in the case of semaine, mois and année.
Le mois dernier
Last month
All ordinal numbers such as deuxième and troisième come before the noun:
La deuxième fois
The second time
An exception to this is in titles of kings etc.:
Henri I [say Henri premier]
Henri II [say Henri deux]
Some adjectives of appreciation such as magnifique, splendide, affreux and horrible can be placed before or after the noun , but have a greater expressive force when placed before the noun.
The adjective new is usually translated nouveau / nouvelle (coming before the noun - une nouvelle politique) but in the sense of brand new is translated neuf / neuve (coming after the noun - une voiture neuve).
Some adjectives have a different meaning according to whether they are placed before or after the noun :
| before noun | after noun |
|---|---|
| l’ancien premier ministre | une église ancienne |
| the former prime minster | an old church |
| un brave homme | un homme brave |
| a kind man | a courageous man |
| certaines personnes | une idée certaine |
| some people | a definite idea |
| un cher ami | une montre chère |
| a dear friend | an expensive watch |
| une curieuse idée | un regard curieux |
| a strange idea | an inquisitive look |
| une pure coïncidence | de l’or pur |
| a pure coincidence | pure gold |
| une histoire drôle | un drôle d’air |
| a funny story | a strange expression |
| un gros problème | a major problem |
| un homme gros | a fat man |
| un grand artiste | un homme grand |
| a great artist | a tall man |
| sa propre voiture | une maison propre |
| his own car | a clean house |
| Pauvre Marie! | une famille pauvre |
| Poor Marie! | a poor family |
| un de ses rares plaisirs | un oiseau rare |
| one of his few pleasures | a rare bird |
| un visage sérieux | une entreprise/ fille sérieuse |
| a serious face | a reliable company / a responsible girl |
| un vrai problème | une histoire vraie |
| a serious problem | a true story |
Adjectives in French adapt very easily to use as a noun , in which case they are called adjectival nouns. Most commonly these refer back to nouns already mentioned.
Je préfère les rouges aux jaunes
I prefer the red ones to the yellow ones
They do not always have to refer back to specific nouns, however. They can be used with les to refer to categories of people, such as les jeunes (young people) or les méchants (the baddies). They can also be used with le to express abstract concepts, as in le beau (beauty). Also falling into this latter category is the following construction, particularly common in spoken French:
Le + [adjectival noun], c'est de faire / c'est que + subjunctive
For example:
L'essentiel, c'est d'arriver à l'heure / c'est que personne n'ait été blessé
The main thing is to arrive on time / is that no-one has been hurt