French Grammar: 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