Adjectives: How to describe people, places and things in French
You're going to want to describe nouns in French.鈥
J'ai un chien - I have a dog is nice but鈥庘 J'ai un chien mignon - I have a cute dog鈥 is better!鈥
The first thing to notice is that adjectives in French usually go after the noun.鈥
J'ai une porte verte - I have a green door.鈥
The next thing to notice is that the adjective must agree with the noun. 鈥
Une porte is a feminine noun which means that the adjective vert has a 鈥巉eminine ending 'e'.鈥
If you have more than one of something like deux lapins blancs - two white 鈥巖abbits, lapins is plural. Which means that the adjective has to be plural too. blancs has an s at the end.鈥
If you have more than one girl les filles then any adjective has to be feminine 鈥巃nd plural.鈥
So content adds an e and an s - les filles contentes - the happy girls. Usually adjectives in 鈥嶧rench come after the noun but there are a few that don't.
beau - beautiful, comes before the noun,鈥
bon - good, un bon livre - a good book,
and grand and petit also go before the noun.
Ma petite s艙ur - My little sister. 鈥
Mon grand lit - My big bed.鈥
Now where's my cute black dog? **O霉 est mon chien mignon et noir?**鈥
What is an adjective?
Adjectives are describing words. They tell us more information about nouns, such as the 鈥巆olour, size, age, etc.鈥
Examples of adjectives include:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| bleu | blue |
| grand | big |
| petit | small |
| nouveau | new |
| vieux | old |
Where do adjectives go in relation to nouns?鈥
In French, adjectives usually go after the noun:鈥
- J鈥檃i un chat noir - I have a black cat.鈥
- Mon p猫谤别 a les cheveux courts - My dad has short hair.鈥
However, most of the BAGS adjectives go before the noun. BAGS stands for Beauty, Age, 鈥嶨oodness and Size.
| Beauty | Age | Goodness | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| beau / belle 鈥庘赌(产别补耻迟颈蹿耻濒)鈥 | vieux / vieille (辞濒诲)鈥 | bon / bonne (good) | grand(e) (产颈驳)鈥 |
| joli(e) (辫谤别迟迟测)鈥 | nouveau / nouvelle 鈥庘赌(苍别飞)鈥 | mauvais(e) (产补诲)鈥 | petit(e) (small) |
For example:鈥
- J鈥檋abite dans une grande maison - I live in a big house.鈥
- Ma copine a une nouvelle tortue - My friend has a new tortoise.鈥
How do adjectives 鈥榓gree鈥 with the noun?鈥
Most adjectives in French change depending on whether they are describing a masculine, 鈥巉eminine or plural noun. The usual endings are as follows:鈥
| masculine singular | masculine plural | feminine singular | feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no ending) | 鈥-s | -e | -es |
- J鈥檃i un v茅lo vert - I have a green bike.鈥
- Tu aimes les haricots verts? - Do you like green beans?鈥
- Ma tante mange une pomme verte - My aunt is eating a green 鈥巃pple.鈥
- Mon oncle aime les voitures vertes - My uncle likes green cars.鈥
There are some exceptions to this rule, however: 鈥
| masculine singular | masculine plural | feminine singular | feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鈥巙n jeune 丑辞尘尘别鈥 鈥(a young man)鈥 | 鈥巇es jeunes hommes 鈥(some young men)鈥 | 鈥巙ne jeune femme 鈥(a young woman)鈥 | des jeunes 蹿别尘尘别蝉鈥 鈥(some young 鈥巜omen)鈥 |
| 鈥巙n homme heureux 鈥(a happy man)鈥 | des hommes 鈥巋eur*eux * 鈥(some happy men)鈥 | 鈥巙ne femme 鈥巋eureuse鈥 鈥(a happy woman)鈥 | 鈥巇es femmes 鈥巋eureuses 鈥(some happy 鈥巜omen)鈥 |
| un homme sporti鈥f鈥 鈥(a sporty man)鈥 | des hommes 鈥巗porti鈥巉蝉 鈥(some sporty men)鈥 | une femme sporti鈥ve 鈥(a sporty woman)鈥 | des femmes 鈥巗portives 鈥(some sporty 鈥巜omen)鈥 |
| 鈥巙n homme fier 鈥(a proud man)鈥 | des hommes fi鈥巈谤蝉 鈥(some proud men)鈥 | 鈥巙ne femme fi猫谤别 鈥(a proud woman)鈥 | 鈥巇es femmes fi猫谤别s鈥 鈥(some proud 鈥巜omen)鈥 |
| un gentil 驳补谤莽辞苍鈥 鈥(a kind man)鈥 | des gentils 驳补谤莽辞苍蝉鈥 鈥(some kind men)鈥 | une gentille 蹿别尘尘别鈥 鈥(a kind woman)鈥 | des gentilles 鈥幋诒鸪境颈鸩踱 鈥(some kind women)鈥 |
Some of the BAGS adjectives are irregular:鈥
| English | Masculine 鈥巗ingular | Feminine 鈥巗ingular | Masculine 鈥巔lural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beautiful | beau, bel | belle | beaux | belles |
| old | vieux, 鈥巚ieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles |
| new | nouveau, 鈥巒ouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles |
Examples using BAGS
Beautiful
- Le bel homme - The handsome man.鈥
- Le beau chien - The beautiful dog.鈥
- La belle maison - The beautiful house.鈥
Old
- La vieille maison - The old house.鈥
- Un vieux v茅lo - An old bike.鈥
New
- La nouvelle maison - The new house.鈥
- Un nouveau 鈥巆in茅ma - A new cinema.鈥
Nouveau, vieux and beau become nouvel, vieil and bel when used to describe a 鈥巑asculine noun that starts with a vowel or an 鈥榟鈥: 鈥
- Un nouvel ami - A new friend. 鈥
- Un vieil homme - An old man鈥.
- Un bel appartement - A nice flat.
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