To describe the characteristics or a state of a person or thing, we need to use adjectives. We will tell you all the aspects of the adjective.
- How to agree an adjective
- Where to place it
- Irregular adjectives….. Ah yes, without these, that wouldn’t be French!
Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
Example: les grands volets verts grincent. The big green shutters squeak.
This sentence contains a common noun in the plural, so the adjectives "big" and "green" take an "s" because these 2 adjectives describe the shutters.
Other examples: Ils achètent cette petite maison. They bought this little house.
Cette maison est petite. This house is small.
Here, we add "e" to "petit" because "maison" is a feminine noun and it refers to "maison".
Adjectives ending by “e”, is the same in the feminine
Un pantalon rouge (red trousers)
Une robe rouge (a red dress)
2 - The place of the adjectives
It can be difficult to place adjectives correctly and how confusing it can be to find that some are in front of the noun and some are after it.
What are the types of adjectives placed after a noun?
Long adjectives
Examples:
Une vie confortable. A comfortable life.
Un homme généreux. A generous man.
colours
Examples:
Un papillon bleu. A blue butterfly.
Des fleurs violettes. Purple flowers.
- Nationalities
Un plat italien.
French boxing.
Present participles as adjectives
Examples:
Le personnel navigant. flight crew.
Un travail fatigant. A tiring work.
Did you notice that we write “fatigant” without u after the g when it comes to the adjective and “fatiguant” with gu when it comes to the present participle.
Past participles as adjectives
Examples:
Une limonade glacée. An iced limonade.
Du café moulu. Grind coffee.
Short adjectives are placed before or after the noun.
Examples:
Une vieille voiture. An old car.
Une histoire courte. A short story.
However, the same adjective changes its meaning depending on the place it occupies before or behind the noun.
Examples:
Une grande femme. A great woman.
Une femme grande. A tall woman.
Here, “grand” doesn’t have the same meaning before and after the noun.
Irregular adjectives
All adjectives take “e” for feminine and “s” for plural.
But some adjectives agree differently:
Adjectives ending by:
ial/iaux - al/aux (case: plural) un message vocal → des messages vocaux
if /ve (case: feminine) Un homme actif → une femme active
eux/se (case: feminine) Un garçon heureux → une fille heureuse
el/le (case: feminine) Un secteur industriel → une filière industrielle
ien/ne (case: feminine) Mon professeur est italien → ma professeure est italienne
on/ne (case: feminine) Ce gâteau est bon → cette confiture est bonne.
Other adjective that the form changes radically:
Vieux / vieille (old)
You wish to watch the video about adjectives?
https://youtu.be/SEYUrvkhlFQ
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