French Vocabulary

109

Gender, number, and

position of adjectives

Genre et nombre (Gender and number)

Adjectives vary in gender and number (masculine or feminine, and singular or

plural) according to the nouns they describe. In most cases, unless the adjective

already ends in a silent -e, it suffi ces to add a silent -e to the adjective to make it

feminine. Irregular feminine forms are noted in the vocabulary lists.

un vélo jaune a yellow bike

une maison jaune a yellow house

un livre intéressant an interesting book

une pièce intéressante an interesting play

In most cases, unless the adjective already ends in -s or -x, it suffi ces to add

the letter -s to the masculine form of the adjective to make it plural. Irregular plu-

ral forms are noted in the vocabulary lists.

un nuage gris a gray cloud

des nuages gris (some) gray couds

un vélo neuf a new bike

des vélos neufs (some) new bikes

Position (Position)

French adjectives are generally placed aft er the noun, except for a few short and

frequently used adjectives in the following list. In these examples, note how the

adjective amusant is placed aft er the noun fi lm, whereas the adjective jolie is

placed before the noun fi lle.

C’est un fi lm amusant. It is an amusing movie.

C’est une jolie fi lle. She is a pretty girl.

petit(e) small

grand(e) tall (people), big (things)

gros(se) fat (people), thick or big (things)

bon(ne) good

mauvais(e) bad

meilleur(e) best

pire worst

jeune young

vieux, vieille old

nouveau, nouvelle new

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