Sriwanthi Thilakarathne

French A/L
Les Adjectifs

The following color adjectives have identical masculine/feminine forms as well as identical singular/plural
forms.

orange orange orange

ivoire ivoire ivory
marron marron brown

Doubled Last Consonant

-n/-nne

Masculine Feminine
ancien ancienne ancient
bon bonne good
chrétien chrétienne Christian
européen européenne European
italien italienne Italian
moyen moyenne middle
parisien parisienne Parisian
paysan paysanne rural

-s/-sse
bas basse low
épais épaisse thick
gras grasse fatty
gros grosse fat
las lasse weary
-t/-tte
muet muette mute
net nette clean, clear-cut
sot sotte stupid, foolish
Sriwanthi Thilakarathne
French A/L
-l/lle
cruel cruelle cruel
gentil gentille nice
nul nulle none
pareil pareille similar

 The following -eur ending adjectives follow the regular pattern:

antérieur antérieure anterior

postérieur postérieure posterior
extérieur extérieure exterior
intérieur intérieure interior
inférieur inférieure inferior
supérieur supérieure superior
majeur majeure major
mineur mineure minor
meilleur meilleure better

 When an -eur ending adjective is derived from a verb, it ends with -euse.

Root Verbs Masculine Feminine

flatter flatteur flatteuse flattering
mentir menteur menteuse lying, deceptive
moqueur moqueur moqueuse mocking
tromper trompeur trompeuse deceitful

 When an adjective ends in -teur, the feminine ending is -trice.

acteur actrice acting

conservateur conservatrice conservative
créateur créatrice creative
protecteur protectrice protective
Sriwanthi Thilakarathne
French A/L
1. Placement after the noun
Most descriptive adjectives are placed after the noun they modify. These normally have an analytical
meaning, in that they classify the noun into a certain category. These types of adjectives include shape,
color, taste, nationality, religion, social class, and other adjectives that describe things like personality and
mood.

une table ronde une femme américaine

un livre noir une église catholique
du thé sucré une famille bourgeoise

In addition, present participles and past participles used as adjectives are always placed after the noun.

une histoire intéressante - interesting story

un débat passionné - lively debate

2. Placement before the noun : Beauty, Age, Good and bad, Size (except for grand with people)

These descriptors - and a few others - are considered inherent qualities of the noun:

une jolie fille - pretty girl

un jeune homme - young man
une nouvelle maison - new house
un bon enfant - good child
un petit problème - small problem
les sincères condoléances - sincere condolences
les vagues promesses - vague promises
un gentil garçon - kind boy

3. Placement depends on meaning

Some adjectives have both a figurative and an analytic (literal) sense and can thus be placed on either side
of the noun. When the adjective is figurative, it goes before the noun, and when it's analytic, it goes after
the noun.

Figurative: mes vertes années my green (fruitful) years

Literal: des légumes verts green vegetables

Figurative: un grand homme a great man

Literal: un homme grand a tall man

Figurative: un triste individu a sad (mean or bad) person

Literal: un individu triste a sad (crying) person

Figurative: mon ancienne école my old (former) school

Literal: mon école ancienne my old (aged) school

Figurative: un certain regard a certain (type of) look

Literal: une victoire certaine a certain (assured) victory
L' homme pauvre a man poor in respect to money
Le pauvre homme a man that is unfortunate or deserving of pity
Sriwanthi Thilakarathne
French A/L
un ancien président a former president.
un président ancien an old president

ma propre cuisine my own kitchen

ma cuisine propre my clean kitchen

Il est la seule personne qui a terminé la course . He is the only person that finished the race.
Un homme seul ne peut pas sauver le monde. Nous devons A single man cannot save the world. We must do it
le faire ensemble. together.

Adjectives usually are placed after the noun they modify. There is a short list of adjectives that typically are
placed before the noun. Most are short, one or two syllable words.

Autre, haut, beau, joli , bref, mauvais, bon, nouveau, double, petit , faux, vaste, grand, vieux, gros

Odd Plurals

For adjectives ending in -x , the masculine singular and plural forms are identical.

un enfant heureux - des enfants heureux

un petit ami jaloux - des jaloux petits amis

A few adjectives add -x to form plurals.

Masculine
Masculine Singular
Plural
hebreu hebreux hebrew
beau beaux beautiful
nouveau nouveaux new

Most adjectives that end in -al replace the -al with -aux to form the masculine plural.

Masculine Singular Masculine Plural

légal légaux legal
loyal loyaux loyal
médieval médievaux medieval
normal normaux normal
royal royaux royal

Exceptions: banal banals commonplace, fatal fatals inevitable, natal natals native, naval navals
shipbuilding
Sriwanthi Thilakarathne
French A/L