How French works
Beginner Unit 53:

Describing things (1) - regular adjective agreements

Key points

  • In French, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. That means that they take an -e when used with a feminine noun: une chemise bleue.
  • They take an -s when used with a plural noun: des gants bleus.
  • And they take -es when used with a feminine plural noun: des chaussettes bleues.

Adjectives are types of word that describe nouns . For example, in the phrase the red car the word red is an adjective describing the noun, car.

In French, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. That means that if a noun is feminine , then the adjective describing it must have a feminine form. Generally adjectives take an -e in the feminine:

un gant bleu   →   une chemise bleue

a blue glove - a blue shirt

Generally adjectives take an -s in the plural :

un gant bleu   →   des gants bleus

a blue glove - blue gloves

Note

Generally where an adjective ends in –d, -t or –s these letters are not pronounced. But, if –e or –es is added to them they are pronounced.

For example grande, petite and grise are pronounced so that they rhyme with the English words blonde, sweet and breeze.

If a noun is both feminine and plural , then generally adjectives will take -es:

une chaussette bleue   →   des chaussettes bleues

a blue sock - blue socks

If a noun already ends in an -e or an -s it remains unchanged:

un chapeau rouge   →   une chemise rouge

a red hat - a red shirt

un gant gris   →   des gants gris

a grey glove - grey gloves

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How French Works was written and coded by Chris Dawson.