An adjective is a word that describes a noun. In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Most adjectives add -e for feminine and -s for plural, but there are exceptions. The position of adjectives can also change their meaning - most adjectives follow the noun but some like "grand" mean different things before or after. Agreement rules must be followed when using multiple adjectives.

1. Adjectives

2. An adjective is a word that is used to describe
something or someone.
They are formed from:
• Nouns: la tradition – traditionnel(le)
• Present participles: vivant – vivant(e)
• Past participles: fumé – fumé(e)

3. In French, adjectives have to agree with the
noun that it is describing, whether it is
masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
Here are the general endings for adjectives:
Ma mère a les cheveux blonds.
Elle a des amies françaises.
Masculine Feminine
Singular - E
Plural S ES

4. However, adjectives which already end in E
doesn’t need another one in the feminine but
an S still needs to be added for plurals.
Une amie timide
Des cousins timides

5. For adjectives that end in a single consonant,
double the consonant and add E:
Masculine Feminine
EL culturel culturelle
IL gentil gentille
AS gras grasse
ET muet muette
EN ancien ancienne

6. Some adjectives have their own patterns:
• ER changes to ÈRE
Premier/première
• X changes to SE
Heureux/heureuse
- Exceptions: Faux/fausse
• EUR changes to EUSE
Menteur/menteuse
- Exceptions: Meilleur, extérieur, intérieur (just add an E)
• F changes to VE
Sportif/sportive
• C changes to CHE or QUE
Blanc/blanche
Public/publique

7. • Adjectives that end in X don’t require an S in
the plural.
Mes parents heureux
• Adjectives ending in AL or EAU change to AUX
in the plural.
Beau/beaux
International/internationaux

8. Here are some examples of adjectives which
don’t change whether they are masculine,
feminine, singular or plural:
• Marron
• Sympa
• Orange
• Super
• This also applies to any compound colours:
Une robe vert clair

9. Negative adjectives
• Some adjectives become negative using a prefix:
- (in)croyable
- (im)possible
- (ir)réel
- (mé)content
- (mal)honnête
• Some adjectives become negative by placing the
words PAS TRÈS or PEU:
Peu amusant
Pas très intéressant

10. Some adjectives have their own patterns whether
they are masculine, feminine, singular or plural:
Beau, nouveau, and vieux become bel, nouvel and
vieil before a masculine noun that starts with a
vowel or a silent H.
Masculine
Singular
Feminine
singular
Masculine
Plural
Feminine
plural
beau belle beaux belles
nouveau nouvelle nouveaux nouvelles
long longue longs longues
bon bonne bons bonnes
gros grosse gros grosses
vieux vielle vieux vielles

11. Position of adjectives
• Most adjectives go after the noun
Les cheveux blonds
• Some adjectives go before the noun
Les nouvelles technologies

12. Position of adjectives
The following adjectives can go before and after the
noun but their meaning is different depending on
the position of the adjective:
Son ancien mari/une femme ancienne
Adjective Meaning before the noun Meaning after the noun
grand tall great
ancien Previous/former old
cher dear expensive
propre own clean
brave decent brave

13. • When there are several adjectives describing
one noun, all adjectives are in their normal
places
Les beaux yeux bleus
• If there are two adjectives after the noun,
they are linked with ET
Un maillot de foot bleu et blanc
• When an adjective describes two or more
nouns which are a mixture of masculine and
feminine nouns, the adjective takes on the
masculine plural form
Un stylo et une gomme bleus.