Language/French/Grammar/Adjectives

The adjective (L'adjectif)

Bonjour ! French learners, 🇫🇷

In this article, you will discover how to use adjectives in French. As you progress in your French language journey, understanding the proper use of adjectives is essential for effective communication. After mastering this lesson, you can also explore other related topics, such as direct and indirect object pronouns, French accent marks and pronunciation, and even learn how to talk about prices in French. Bonne chance et amusez-vous bien ! 🎉

As we know adjectives are those words that add information about the name they accompany.

• le chien est rapide = the dog is fast
• le chien blanc est rapide = the white dog is fast

Sentense construction

Construct sentences with adjectives is very simple:

• Ce vélo est rapide = This bike is fast.
• Le ciel est bleu = The sky is blue

Adjectives are placed in front or behind a name:

• un homme pauvre = a poor man
• un pauvre homme = a poor man

Warning: in most cases adjective placement will be imposed by usage. We'll say "une grande ville" (a big city) and not "une ville grande". Same when there is more than one adjective, example: we say "un beau ciel bleu" (a nice blue sky) never say "un beau bleu ciel" ! In some cases where usage allow the adjective to be placed before or after the noun the meaning might be slightly different, in the example above "un homme pauvre" definitely means a man who is not wealthy when "pauvre homme" has a broader meaning and can be used for a man who is unfortunate or unlucky or unhappy: "le pauvre homme! Il a perdu sa femme" (Poor guy! He lost his wife).

Singular

• le grand bâtiment = the large building
• la grande ville = the big city

• un grand appartement = a large apartment

Plural

• les grands bâtiments = the large buildings
• les grandes villes = the big cities
• de grands appartements = large apartments

Note that we can use both "des" or "de" in front of the adjective in case of plural, with a very slightly different meaning

• Mon bâtiment a de grands appartements = My building has (some) large apartments. Large apartments can be found in my building
• Mon bâtiment a des grands appartements = My building has large apartments. Most apartments are large

Feminine

The feminine of adjectives is formed by adding the ending "e" to the masculine adjective. However, there are some exceptions. Look at The Adjective. Women's training to learn more about this.

Examples

Here is a list of the most common adjectives, with their feminine :

Masculin	Feminin	Masculin	Feminin	Traduction
beau - bel 'bel' replaces 'beau' in front of a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel sound or a silent "h". See this lesson	belle	laid	laide	beautiful / ugly
bon	bonne	mauvais	mauvaise	good / bad
long	longue	court	courte	Long / short
grand	grande	petit	petite	large / small
lent	lente	rapide	rapide	slow / fast
ouvert	ouverte	fermé	fermée	open / closed
jeune	jeune	vieux	vieille	young / old
plein	pleine	vide	vide	full / empty
cher	chère	bon marché	bon marché	expensive / cheap
bas	basse	haut	haute	low / high
facile	facile	difficile	difficile	easy / hard
vrai	vraie	faux	fausse	true / false
froid	froide	chaud	chaude	cold / hot
léger	légère	lourd	lourde	light / heavy
nouveau	nouvelle	ancien	ancienne	new / old

Other Lessons

• Ce, and compound forms of être
• Use of en with numerals and quantifiers
• Cardinal Numbers — When to use figures and when to use words
• Déterminants
• Conventions for writing cardinal numbers in figures
• How to recognize when the start of a relative clause is a direct object
• Agreement of past participle if direct object is placed before
• il or ça alternating with clauses or infinitives as subjects
• How to use half, third and quarter in French
• Beau VS Bel