French Grammar - Adjectives - Effective Language Learning

Regular formation

Spelling

Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:

Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
- un garçon intéressant –> une fille intéressante
- un ami amusant –> une amie amusante
- un camion lent –> une voiture lente
Plural: add an -s to the singular form
- un garçon intéressant –> des garçons intéressants
- une fille intéressante –> des filles intéressantes

Pronunciation

Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule.

Masculine Pronuciation: intéressan, amusan, len
Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent

Irregular formation

Irregular plural formation

				Examples
	M Sing.	–>	M. Pl.	Masc. Singular	–>	Masc. Plural	Notes
No change	-s		-s	un plafond bas un gros porc		des plafonds bas des gros porcs
	-x		-x	un homme généreux un garçon furieux		des hommes généreux des garçons furieux
	-z		-z	un gaz dangereux		des gaz dangereux
__x	-au		-aux	un journal		des journaux	Exceptions:landau (landaus), sarrau (sarraus)
	-eu		-eux	un pieu		des pieux	Exceptions:bleu (bleus), pneu (pneus)
	-eau		-eaux	un château		des châteaux
	-al		-aux	un journal		des journaux	Exceptions:bal, cal, carnaval, chacal, festival, pal, récital et régal take an ‘s’
	-ou		-oux	un bijou		des bijoux	Notes:While most -ou adjectives have an s added in the plural form, seven are the exception. These are: un bijou (des bijoux, jewel), un caillou (des cailloux, stone)), un pou (des poux, louse), un joujou (des joujoux, toy ), un chou (des choux, cabbage), un hibou (des hiboux, owl), un genou (des genoux, knee)

Irregular feminine formation

				Examples
	Masc.	–>	Fem.	Masculine	–>	Feminine	Notes
No change	-e		-e	égoïste, populaire, sociable, timide, énergique, dynamique, sympathique			* When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is no change. * The final consonant is pronounced on the masc. form.
Final Consonant Doubled	-el		-elle	cruel		cruelle	When an adjective has one of these endings, the ending of the feminine form is doubled. There is no change of pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle. -il is pronounced “ee” (as in keen), while -ille is similar, with a final yod (pronounced like “ee” in keen with a “y” on the end: [ij] ). -on is pronounced ohhn and -onne is pronounced uhhne. -en is pronounced euhn and -enne is pronounced ehne. -os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced ohse. -as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced ahse.
	-il		-ille	gentil		gentille
	-on		-onne	bon breton		bonne bretonne
	-en		-enne	ancien parisien		ancienne parisienne
	-os		-osse	gros		grosse
	-as		-asse	bas		basse
-eux change	-eux		-euse	furieux généreux		furieuse généreuse	-eux is pronounced euhh and -euse is pronounced euhsse.
-if change	-if		-ive	sportif actif		sportive active
er change	-er		-ère	étranger cher		étrangère chère	-er is pronounced ay and -ère is pronounced air, though exceptions such as “cher” exist in which both forms are pronounced with an ending similar to the word “air”.
-et change	-et		-ète	inquiet complet		inquiète complète	-et is pronounced ay and -ète is pronounced ette.

Special rules

Adjectives that precede nouns

List

Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. These are:

beau (belle)
joli(e)
nouveau (nouvelle)
vieux (vieille)
jeune +
bon(ne) +
gentil (gentille)
mauvais(e)
vilain(e)
grand(e) +
petit(e)
court(e) +
long(ue)
gros(se) +
large
haut(e)
affreux (affreuse)
dernier (dernière) +
méchant(e) +
meilleur(e)
pauvre
autre

+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning
When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it:

des garçons courageux / de beaux garçons

Changes in meaning

When grand goes before a noun, it means great. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall. Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means financially poor. This rule works most of the time, but be careful, “pauvre” can mean “financially poor” even when used before the nouns.

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h:

	Masc. Sing. Cons.	Masc. Sing Vowel	Masc. Plural	Fem. Sing. (all)	Fem. Plural
Beau	un beau garçon	un bel individu	de beaux garçons	une belle fillette	de belles fillettes
Nouveau	un nouveau camion	un nouvel ordre	de nouveaux ordres	une nouvelle idée	de nouvelles idées
Vieux	un vieux camion	un vieil ordre	de vieux camions	une vieille idée	de vieilles idées

Possessive adjectives

In English, we say “her car” when the owner of the car is a woman and “his car” when the owner is a man. In French, they say “sa voiture” even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the possessive adjective but the object owned.
First person singular – mon, ma, mes
Second person singular (informal) – ton, ta, tes
Third person singular – son, sa, ses
First person plural – notre, notre, nos
Second person plural (and polite form) – votre, votre, vos
Third person plural – leur, leur, leurs
Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel you should utilize “Mon” instead of “Ma”. Example:

Mon ami = ok
Ma amie = error!
Mon amie = ok.

Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License Source: Wikibooks