Describing People, Places, and Things with Adjectives
2.4.1. The Main Idea
In French, adjectives describe people, places, and things. They can describe personality, appearance, size, quality, or condition.
Il est grand. | He is tall. |
Elle est grande. | She is tall. |
Le livre est intéressant. | The book is interesting. |
La ville est belle. | The city is beautiful. |
Many French adjectives change form depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
2.4.2. Masculine and Feminine Adjectives
A common pattern is:
masculine adjective + e | feminine adjective |
grand | grande |
petit | petite |
intéressant | intéressante |
amusant | amusante |
2.4.3. Examples with People
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 intéressant. | He is interesting. |
Elle est intéressante. | She is interesting. |
Il est amusant. | He is funny / entertaining. |
Elle est amusante. | She is funny / entertaining. |
2.4.4. Examples with Things
Le livre est intéressant. | The book is interesting. |
La leçon est intéressante. | The lesson is interesting. |
Le cours est amusant. | The class is fun / entertaining. |
La classe est amusante. | The class is fun / entertaining. |
Le sac est petit. | The bag is small. |
La table est petite. | The table is small. |
2.4.5. Examples with Places
Le café est petit. | The café is small. |
La ville est grande. | The city is big. |
Le restaurant est intéressant. | The restaurant is interesting. |
La maison est belle. | The house is beautiful. |
LâuniversitĂ© est grande. | The university is big. |
2.4.6. Adjectives That Already End in -e
Some adjectives already end in -e in the masculine form. These usually stay the same in the feminine form.
jeune | jeune |
calme | calme |
riche | riche |
difficile | difficile |
facile | facile |
2.4.7. Examples with Same-Form Adjectives
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. |
2.4.8. Common Adjectives
grand | big / tall, masculine |
grande | big / tall, feminine |
petit | small / short, masculine |
petite | small / short, feminine |
intéressant | interesting, masculine |
intéressante | interesting, feminine |
amusant | funny / entertaining, masculine |
amusante | funny / entertaining, feminine |
jeune | young |
calme | calm |
facile | easy |
difficile | difficult |
beau | beautiful / handsome, masculine |
belle | beautiful, feminine |
bon | good, masculine |
bonne | good, feminine |
2.4.9. Word Order
In French, many adjectives usually come after the noun.
un livre intéressant | an interesting book |
une leçon intéressante | an interesting lesson |
un cours difficile | a difficult course |
une ville calme | a calm city |
Some common adjectives often come before the noun, such as petit, grand, beau, and bon.
un petit café | a small café |
une grande ville | a big city |
un beau livre | a beautiful book |
une bonne leçon | a good lesson |
2.4.10. Core Patterns
Il est ___ . | He is ___ . |
Elle est ___ . | She is ___ . |
Câest ___ . | It is ___ . |
Le livre est ___ . | The book is ___ . |
La ville est ___ . | The city is ___ . |
2.4.11. Practice
He is tall. |
She is tall. |
The book is interesting. |
The lesson is interesting. |
The class is difficult. |
The city is calm. |
A small café |
A good lesson |
2.4.12. Answers
He is tall. | Il est grand. |
She is tall. | Elle est grande. |
The book is interesting. | Le livre est intéressant. |
The lesson is interesting. | La leçon est intéressante. |
The class is difficult. | Le cours est difficile. |
The city is calm. | La ville est calme. |
A small café | Un petit café |
A good lesson | Une bonne leçon |
2.4.13. Short Dialogue
A : Le cours est comment ? | A: What is the class like? |
B : Le cours est intéressant. Et la leçon ? | B: The class is interesting. And the lesson? |
A : La leçon est facile. | A: The lesson is easy. |
B : TrĂšs bien ! | B: Very good! |
2.4.14. Checkpoint
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to describe people, places, and things with basic adjectives, recognize masculine and feminine adjective forms, and understand that many French adjectives come after the noun.
2.4.15. Try It Out
Try saying this in French:
He is tall.
She is interesting.
Possible answer:
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