French Adjectives

Definition: French adjectives agree with the noun they describe, that's to say they reflect it's gender and number.

Adjective Construction

The first female was created from the rib of a man. Feminine adjectives, on the other hand, are normally created by appending an e to the end of the masculine adjective (Regular Adjectives).
  • C'est un petit garçon.
    It is a small boy.
  • C'est une petite fille.
    It is a small girl.
Feminine adjectives aren't, however, all created the same way; they are a diverse lot. Some feminine adjectives have doubled final consonants, others are exact replicas of the masculine adjective (sameness), some undergo bizarre metamorphoses that make them little resemble their masculine counterparts (oddball adjectives).

Plural adjectives are formed by appending an s to the end of a masculine or feminine adjective.
  • Les lits bleus sont là-bas. (lit is masculine)
    The blue beds are over there.
  • Les lampes bleues sont à la mode.(lampe is feminine)
    Blue lamps are in fashion.

Some Regular Adjectives

The final consonant is usually silent in masculine adjectives and pronounced in feminine adjectives.

MASCULINE FEMININE IN ENGLISH

amusant amusante amusing
content contente content
grand grand big
intelligent intelligente intelligent
intéressant intéressante interesting
méchant méchante mean
lent lente slow
plein pleine full
prochain prochaine next
puissant puissante powerful

The following masculine and feminine adjectives are pronounced the same despite different spellings.

MASCULINE FEMININE IN ENGLISH

bleu bleue blue
clair claire clear
compliqué compliquée complicated
désolé désolée sorry
dur dure hard
égal égale equal
fatigué fatiguée tired
gai gaie happy
joli jolie pretty
noir noire black
poli polie polite
sûr sûre sure





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