2.6. Les formes des adjectifs

Forms of Adjectives

2.6.1. The Main Idea

In French, adjectives often change form. They usually agree with the noun or person they describe.

un étudiant intelligent	an intelligent male student
une étudiante intelligente	an intelligent female student
un livre intéressant	an interesting book
une leçon intéressante	an interesting lesson

Adjectives can change for masculine, feminine, singular, and plural.

2.6.2. Masculine and Feminine Forms

A common pattern is to add -e to the masculine form to make the feminine form.

grand	grande
petit	petite
intelligent	intelligente
intéressant	intéressante
amusant	amusante

2.6.3. Examples: Masculine and Feminine

Il est grand.	He is tall.
Elle est grande.	She is tall.
Il est petit.	He is short.
Elle est petite.	She is short.
Il est intelligent.	He is intelligent.
Elle est intelligente.	She is intelligent.
Le cours est intéressant.	The course is interesting.
La leçon est intéressante.	The lesson is interesting.

2.6.4. Singular and Plural Forms

A common pattern is to add -s to make an adjective plural.

un livre intéressant	an interesting book
des livres intéressants	interesting books
une leçon intéressante	an interesting lesson
des leçons intéressantes	interesting lessons

The final -s is usually silent.

2.6.5. Four Basic Forms

Many adjectives have four forms:

grand	masculine singular
grande	feminine singular
grands	masculine plural
grandes	feminine plural

petit	masculine singular
petite	feminine singular
petits	masculine plural
petites	feminine plural

2.6.6. Examples: Four Forms

un grand livre	a big book
une grande table	a big table
des grands livres	big books
des grandes tables	big tables
un petit sac	a small bag
une petite chaise	a small chair
des petits sacs	small bags
des petites chaises	small chairs

2.6.7. Adjectives Ending in -e

If the masculine form already ends in -e, the feminine form usually stays the same.

jeune	jeune
calme	calme
riche	riche
facile	facile
difficile	difficile

2.6.8. Examples: Same Masculine and Feminine Form

Il est jeune.	He is young.
Elle est jeune.	She is young.
Le cours est facile.	The course is easy.
La leçon est facile.	The lesson is easy.
Le café est calme.	The café is calm.
La ville est calme.	The city is calm.

2.6.9. Irregular Feminine Forms

Some adjectives have irregular feminine forms.

beau	belle
nouveau	nouvelle
vieux	vieille
bon	bonne
blanc	blanche

2.6.10. Examples: Irregular Forms

un beau livre	a beautiful book
une belle maison	a beautiful house
un nouveau cours	a new course
une nouvelle leçon	a new lesson
un vieux cahier	an old notebook
une vieille table	an old table
un bon étudiant	a good student, masculine
une bonne étudiante	a good student, feminine
un sac blanc	a white bag
une gomme blanche	a white eraser

2.6.11. Core Patterns

masculine singular	grand
feminine singular	grande
masculine plural	grands
feminine plural	grandes

masculine + e	feminine
singular + s	plural
masculine ending in -e	same feminine form

2.6.12. Practice

a tall male student |

a tall female student |

interesting books |

interesting lessons |

he is intelligent |

she is intelligent |

a good male student |

a good female student |

a white bag |

a white eraser |

2.6.13. Answers

a tall male student	un étudiant grand
a tall female student	une étudiante grande
interesting books	des livres intéressants
interesting lessons	des leçons intéressantes
he is intelligent	Il est intelligent.
she is intelligent	Elle est intelligente.
a good male student	un bon étudiant
a good female student	une bonne étudiante
a white bag	un sac blanc
a white eraser	une gomme blanche

2.6.14. Short Dialogue

A : Le livre est intéressant ?	A: Is the book interesting?
B : Oui, le livre est intéressant. Et la leçon ?	B: Yes, the book is interesting. And the lesson?
A : La leçon est intéressante.	A: The lesson is interesting.
B : Très bien !	B: Very good!

2.6.15. Checkpoint

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to recognize masculine, feminine, singular, and plural adjective forms, make many feminine adjectives by adding -e, make many plural adjectives by adding -s, and identify a few common irregular adjective forms.

2.6. Les formes des adjectifs