Language/French/Grammar/Masculine-and-feminine-forms-of-adjectives-—-A-change-in-written-and-spoken-French

Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives — A change in written and spoken French

In the following cases, addition of feminine -e to the written masculine form also corresponds to the pronunciation of a final consonant in spoken French:

Addition of -e without further changes:

French		English
Masculine	Feminine
petit	petite	small
cuit	cuite	cooked
gris	grise	grey
mauvais	mauvaise	bad

Addition of -e and doubling of the final consonant

	French		English
Adjective ending	Masculine	Feminine
-as	bas	basse	low
	gras	grasse	fatty
	épais	épaisse	thick
	las	lasse	tired
-et	muet	muette	mute
	coquet	coquette	cute
-ot	sot	sotte	stupid

Addition of -e and a grave accent

	French		English
Adjective ending	Masculine	Feminine
-et	complet	complète	complete
	inquiet	inquiète	worried
	secret	secrète	secret
	discret	discrète	discreet
	concret	concrète	concrete
	replet	replete	plump

Related Lessons

• Location of adverbs modifying adjectives, prepositions, noun phrases and other adverbs
• Agreement of past participles with direct objects placed before in relative clauses
• Colour adjective compounds
• Vous and Tu Complete Guide
• Use of the definite article with seasons
• Adjectives which normally follow the noun but can also precede, without significant changes in meaning
• "C'est" or "Ce sont"
• Often Mistaken Gender of Nouns
• "de" when an adjective precedes the noun
• Conjugation group 3
• Place adverbs
• Omission of the article in participle + noun constructions linked by de
• Use of the definite article with quantities
• Use of the definite article with names of languages
• Types of noun