Adjective Agreement & Position

📌 Note de grammaire

To form the feminine of most French adjectives, add an unvoiced 'e' to the masculine singular form. If the masculine form already ends in an 'e', it remains unchanged in the feminine.

📌 Note de grammaire

To form the plural of most French adjectives, add an 's' to the singular form (both masculine and feminine). The 's' is typically silent when spoken.

📌 Note de grammaire

Adjectives that already end in an unstressed 'e' in the masculine singular do not change their spelling in the feminine singular. They take only an 's' for the plural.

📌 Note de grammaire

Adjectives ending in '-eux' in the masculine singular change their ending to '-euse' in the feminine singular. The plural forms add 's' (masculine remains '-eux', feminine becomes '-euses').

📌 Note de grammaire

Adjectives ending in '-f' in the masculine singular change their ending to '-ve' in the feminine singular. Plural forms add an 's' to these respective bases.

📌 Note de grammaire

Many adjectives ending in '-el', '-en', '-et', or '-on' double their final consonant before adding the feminine 'e' (e.g., bon becomes bonne, ancien becomes ancienne).

📌 Note de grammaire

Unlike English, most French adjectives come after the noun they modify. This includes colors, nationalities, shapes, and religious or physical descriptions.

📌 Note de grammaire

Common, short, high-frequency adjectives usually go before the noun. Remember the acronym BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size (e.g., beau, jeune, vieux, bon, grand, petit).

📌 Note de grammaire

Before masculine singular nouns starting with a vowel sound or silent 'h', adjectives like beau, nouveau, and vieux change to bel, nouvel, and vieil to ease pronunciation.

📌 Note de grammaire

When an adjective modifies multiple nouns of different genders, the masculine plural form takes precedence over the feminine.

📌 Note de grammaire

Most adjectives ending in '-al' in the masculine singular change their plural masculine ending to '-aux' (e.g., général becomes généraux, national becomes nationaux).

📌 Note de grammaire

Adjectives derived from fruits or items, such as orange and marron, do not change for gender or number. They remain identical regardless of the noun they modify.