French adjectives
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Lesson outline
Hide- 1.What is an adjective?
- 2.Function of the French adjectives
- 2.1.The epithet adjective in French
- 2.2.The Adjective attribute of the subject in French
- 3.Endings of regular and irregular French adjectives (The feminine)
- 4.Plural of adjectives in French
- 4.1.Exceptions
- 5.The comparative of French adjectives
- 5.1.Exceptions
- 6.Placement of the French adjectives
- 6.1.Examples
- 7.Determinants adjectives
- 7.1.French possessive adjectives
- 7.1.1.Examples
- 7.2.French demonstrative adjectives
- 7.2.1.Examples
- 7.3.French indefinite adjectives
- 7.3.1.The indefinite adjective "tout"
- 7.3.2.Examples
- 8.Exercises
- 8.1.Multiple choice questions about the epithet, attribute in French
What is an adjective?
Adjectives (French: les adjectifs) in general are qualifying nouns which are used to describe a noun. Also, they tell you more about a person or thing, their appearance and aspects like color, size or other descriptif qualities.
When we speak about using adjectives in the French language it's important to mention that there are differences to the English language.
Adjectives can also be determinants and are several categories:
- Demonstrative adjectives
- Possessive adjectives
- Numeral adjectives
- Indefinite adjectives
- Interrogative adjectives
- Exclamatives adjectives
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Function of the French adjectives
The adjective qualifying can be
- epithet
- attribute
The epithet adjective in French
We speak of an epithet when the adjective qualifies a noun or a pronoun, without preposition and without verb. It can be deleted, which sometimes requires modifying the determinant.
Examples:
- Une grande maison. (A big house)
- Une jolie fille. (A beautiful girl)
- Son énorme cadeau. (His huge gift)
- Une femme brave. (A strong woman)
The Adjective attribute of the subject in French
We speak of attribute of the subject when the adjective is used with a verb of state. He agrees with the subject. To verify, we can always replace a verb of state by the verb être
The French state verbs are seven:
- Sembler (To seem)
- Paraitre (To seem)
- Deumerer (To remain)
- Rester (To stay)
- être (To be)
- Devenir (To become)
- Avoir l'air (To look like)
Examples:
| Epithet adjective | Une grande femme | (A tall woman) |
|---|---|---|
| Attribute | La femme semblait grande | (The woman seemed tall) |
Endings of regular and irregular French adjectives (The feminine)
The feminine of the adjectives is usually formed by adding an e at the end of the word.
- Un petit garçon -----> une petite fille
- Un mauvais devoir ------> une mauvaise note
But there are many exceptions for adjectives ending in -gu, -ul, -el, -eil, -iel, -ien, -en, -on, -teur, -eau, -ier, -iet.
- The adjectives ending en -eau have their feminine in -elle
- The adjectives ending en -gu have their feminine in -e with a umlet in the e
- The adjectives ending in -ier or -iet have their feminine in ière or iète
- The adjectives ending in -ul, -el, -eil or -iel double their -l and take a final e
- The adjectives ending in -ien, -in or -on double their n and take a final e
- The adjectives ending in -eur can have their feminine in -euse or -eure
- Some adjectives in -teur have their feminine ending in -trice
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| beau, nouveau | belle, nouvelle |
| ambigu | ambiguë |
| inquiet | inquiète |
| nul, vieil | nulle, vieille |
| bon | bonne |
| meilleur, rêveur | meilleure, rêveuse |
| protecteur | protectrice |
Plural of adjectives in French
French adjectives must agree with the gender and number of nouns they want to modify.
Adjective: grand (big)
| Masculine singular | grand |
| Feminine singular | grande |
| Masculine plural | grands |
| Feminine plural | grandes |
Exceptions
Even if the general rule is that the plural ends with -s there are some exceptions !
1. Adjectives ending in -al
All adjectives ending in -al have their plural ending in -aux except for bancal, fatal, naval, final, banal, natal which ends with s
Examples:
- Des combats fatals (fatal battles)
- Les appartements royaux (Royal apartments)
2. Adjectives ending in -eau and -eu
Those adjectives always have their plural ending in -x
Examples:
- De beaux cheveux (Beautiful hairs)
- Des villages hébreux. (Hebrew town)
3. Adjectives ending in -s or -x are invariable in the plural
- Un voyage merveilleux (A wonderful trip)
- Un garçon fabuleux (An incredible boy)
All adjectives of colors take an -s in the plural except if they are followed by another adjective.
- Des chemise vertes -----> Des chemises vert clair.
These exceptions only applies to masculine adjectives, if they are to the feminine, they take their plural with -s.
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Un garçon heureux | Une fille heureuse |
| Plural | Des garçons heureux | Des filles heureuses |
The comparative of French adjectives
The comparative (French: le comparatif) makes it possible to compare two things or two people, using the adverbs plus (superiority), moins (inferiority) or aussi (equality).
In the French, we can find different comparatives
The comparative of superiority: plus + adjective + que
- Mon vélo est plus rapide que le tien. (My bike is faster than yours)
The comparative of inferiority: moins + adjective + que
- Mon vélo est moins rapide que le tien. (My bike is slower than yours)
The comparative of equality: aussi + adjective + aussi
- Mon vélo est aussi rapide que le tien. (My bike is as fast as yours)
Exceptions
| Adjectives | Comparative | Translations |
|---|---|---|
| Bon | Meilleur | (Better) |
| Mauvais | Pire | (Worse) |
| Petit | Moindre | (Smaller) |
Placement of the French adjectives
About the position of the adjectives, most of the adjectives epithets are placed after the name but some are placed before. There are adjectives that can be placed before or after the noun and change the meaning of the sentence.
Examples
- Un grand homme (A big man) talks about the big achievement of a man
- Un homme grand (A tall man) talks about the height of a man
- C'est une seule dame (It's only a woman) talks about the number of woman
- C'est une dame seule (It's a lonely woman) talks about the loneliness of a woman
Determinants adjectives
French possessive adjectives
The possessive adjective (French: l'adjectif possessif) is used to designate a possessor. It agrees with the noun it refers to.
| Personal prounouns | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Feminine/Masculine plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je | mon | ma | mes |
| Tu | ton | ta | tes |
| Il/Elle | son | sa | ses |
| Nous | notre | notre | nos |
| Vous | votre | votre | vos |
| Ils/elles | leur | leur | leurs |
In front of the vowels: a, e, i, o, u, h the feminine singular ma, ta, sa becomes mon, ton, son
- École (school) is a feminine noun so we should say "ma école" but because of the e we say "mon école"
Examples
| Possessive adjectives | Translations |
|---|---|
| Ta tante est vieille | (Your aunt is old) |
| Mon père a acheté une voiture | (My father bought a car) |
| Ses parents sont américains | (Her parents are americans) |
| Votre soeur est une grande dame | (Your sister is a "grande dame") |
French demonstrative adjectives
A demonstrative adjective (French: l'adjectif démonstratif) is used to designate something. We use the demonstrative adjectives ce, cet, cette or ces for the plural nouns. The demonstrative adjective agrees with the name to which it refers.
| Masculine singular | ce, cet |
|---|---|
| Feminine singular | cette |
| Masculine plural | ces |
| Feminine plural | ces |
The masculine singular cet is used in front of vowels a, e, i, o, u, y, h otherwise you use "ce"
Examples
| Demonstratives adjectives | Translations |
|---|---|
| Ce livre | (This book) |
| Cet homme | (This man) |
| Cette soirée | (That night) |
| Ces enfants | (These kids) |
French indefinite adjectives
The indefinite adjective (l'adjectif indefini) express quantity. Quantity is expressed with indefinite adjectives like:
- quelques
- plusieurs
- certains
- d'autres
- chaque
- tout
The indefinite adjective "tout"
The indefinite adjective tout agrees with the noun it refers to. And sometimes can be followed by an article.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | tout | tous |
| Feminine | toute | toutes |
Examples
| Indefinite adjectives | Translations |
|---|---|
| Quelques étudiants | (A few students) |
| Plusieurs étudiants | (Several students) |
| Certains étudiants | (Some students) |
| D'autres étudiants | (Others students) |
| Chaque étudiant | (Each student) |
| Tous les étudiants | (All the students) |
Exercises
Multiple choice questions about the epithet, attribute in French
Exercises
Multiple choice questions about the epithet, attribute in French
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Training is my passion. I like interacting with people. I am passionate about reading, watching movies, and music. I love to explore new places and have keen interest in arts and literature.I love meeting new people because every person is a whole new world you can learn from. I am also a keen reader and an enthusiastic traveller.
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Very helpfull teacher with excellent tips on how to improve your french. The informal style has a lot of merit and can help you aquire the language in a natural, unstructured and unforced fashion. Recommended for anyone who prefers a learn by doing approach.
Hella K.
I want to help people to improve the level of their chosen language.
I couldn't imagine a better teacher than Nancy! Together with Nancy you find the right method for you to improve your French in a fun and personal way. I would recommend her to everyone!
Nancy C.
Hello there. I am Ivan and I teach German, French and English online with great success for over 7 years. My teaching technics suit to all kind of interests and goals: personal as well as professional.
I have studied, worked and lived in the French and in the German part of Switzerland, supporting customers from different ages and countries around the world. I am currently working for two online-schools (in the UK and in China).
Additionally, teaching is my passion which makes me not only a passionated and hard-working teacher but also a flexible, dynamic and compassionate person.
Please contact me for more information and a first meeting free of charge.
Looking forward to meet you soon.
R. K.
Ivan is an excellent teacher. He adapts lessons to your needs and wishes and makes learning with him fun and enjoyable by finding material which interests you or that you might find interesting even if you didn’t know it yourself before! I have had 25 lessons with him now and my progress has been much quicker than any method, or course I have taken before. I can’t rate him highly enough! He is very punctual and is very quick to respond if I have any questions. Thank you Ivan!
Ivan E.
Hi
I am Kelly, i teach frenhc in Switzerland and online. I've experience since many years.
I can help you for DELF/ DALF, pass an exam, or for professional goals.
J. .
Kelly is always on time, patient and friendly. She answers all my questions about the French language and culture. She is a good teacher and I recommend her. Kelly is always on time, is patient, and friendly. She answers all my questions about the French language and culture. She's a great teacher and I recommend her.
Thanks Jo. I am also very happy to have you as a student.