Language/French/Grammar/Masculine-and-feminine-forms-of-adjectives-—-A-change-in-written,-but-not-spoken
General Rule
The general rule is that an -e is added to the masculine form of adjectives to produce the feminine form.
Specific Rules
In cases where the masculine form ends in one of the following vowels or consonants, there is a change in the written form but not in the spoken form:
Adjectives ending in -u
In the case of aigu, ambigu, contigu, a diaresis (ë) is added to the feminine -e in written French to indicate that the -u sound is maintained in spoken French (aigue would be pronounced rather like English 'egg' otherwise; compare long/longue).
French | English | ||
---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | ||
-u | absolu | absolue | absolute |
aigu | aiguë | high (sound) | |
ambigu | ambiguë | ambiguous | |
contigu | contiguë | contiguous |
Adjectives ending in -é and -er
In these cases, where the final r is pronounced in the masculine, a grave accent is added to the first written e.
French | English | ||
---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | ||
-é | fermé | fermée | closed |
-er | fier | fière | proud |
cher | chère | expensive | |
amer | amère | bitter |
Adjectives ending in -i, -c, -ct, -r, -al, -el and -ul
In these cases, it is -le which is added and not just -e.
French | English | ||
---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | ||
-i | hardi | hardie | bold |
NB: Exception: | favori | favorite | favourite |
-c | public | publique | public |
turc | turque | Turkish | |
NB: c is maintained in: | grec | grecque | Greek |
-ct | direct | directe | direct |
-r | sûr | sûre | certain |
pur | pure | pure | |
-al | national | nationale | national |
-el | général | générale | general |
hivernal | hivernale | winter | |
final | finale | final | |
personnel | personnelle | personal | |
professionnel | professionnelle | professional | |
passionnel | passionnelle | emotive | |
-ul | cruel | cruelle | cruel |
nul | nulle | no- |
-l is pronounced in the masculine.
In these cases the -l is pronounced in the masculine.
French | English | |
---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | |
espagnol | espagnole | Spanish |
puéril | puérile | childish |
civil | civile | civil |
The final -il is pronounced as indicated
By contrast in the following adjectives the final -il is pronounced as indicated:
French | English | |
---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | |
gentil [-i] | gentille [-ij] | kind |
pareil [-ej] | pareille [-ej] | similar |
vermeil [-ej] | vermeille [-ej] | bright red |
Videos
Ask a French Teacher - How Can I Tell if a Noun is Masculine or ...
How to identify feminine and masculine in French - YouTube
Related Lessons
- Plural forms of adjectives — The normal case
- Conjugation group 1 — verbs whose infinitive ends in —er
- Conventions for writing cardinal numbers in figures
- Marked use of tu
- Choosing between il est and c'est
- Well Better Worse
- Use of the definite article with parts of the body
- « d'autres » VS « des autres »
- Intransitive verbs and auxiliary “être”
- Agreement of the past participle with the subject of “être”
- How to Use Be
- Auxiliaries
- Plural of Nouns
- "C'est" or "Ce sont"
- Use of the definite article with quantities