Key points about the position of adjectives in French
Most adjectives in French go after the noun, such as bleu (blue) and 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟 (interesting).
Some adjectives go before the noun, such as nouveau (new) and petit (small).
Some adjectives change spelling with All nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. singular nouns that start with a vowel or silent 鈥榟鈥, such as nouveau (new), which becomes nouvel, eg un nouvel ordinateur (a new computer).
Some adjectives change their meaning depending on whether they are before or after the noun, such as ancien, which means 鈥榝ormer鈥 before a noun or 鈥榲ery old鈥 after a noun.
Video: French adjectives
Watch this video to recap what you know about adjectives in French.
Adjectives: How to describe people, places and things in French
You're going to want to describe nouns in French.鈥
J'ai un chien - I have a dog - is nice but鈥庘 J'ai un chien mignon - I have a cute dog鈥 is better!鈥
The first thing to notice is that adjectives in French usually go after the noun.鈥
J'ai une porte verte - I have a green door.鈥
The next thing to notice is that the adjective must agree with the noun. 鈥
Une porte is a feminine noun which means that the adjective vert has a 鈥巉eminine ending 'e&#虫27;.鈥
If you have more than one of something like deux lapins blancs - two white 鈥巖abbits - lapins is plural. Which means that the adjective has to be plural too. blancs has an s at the end.鈥
If you have more than one girl - les filles - then any adjective has to be feminine 鈥巃nd plural.鈥
So content adds an e and an s - les filles contentes - the happy girls. Usually adjectives in 鈥嶧rench come after the noun but there are a few that don't.
beau - beautiful - comes before the noun.
鈥bon - good. Un bon livre - A good book.
And grand and petit also go before the noun:
Ma petite s艙ur - My little sister.
Mon grand lit - My big bed.鈥
Now where's my cute black dog? O霉 est mon chien mignon et noir?
Adjectives that come after nouns
In French, most adjectives come after the noun.
For example:
J鈥檃i les yeux bleus. 鈥 I have blue eyes.
Nous apprenons beaucoup de choses utiles au coll猫ge. 鈥 We learn lots of useful things at school.
French adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number. For most adjectives, such as petit (small), add an e if the noun is feminine, s if it is masculine and plural, and es if it is feminine and plural.
Some adjectives, such as travailleur/travailleuse (hardworking), are irregular, and it is essential to learn the different forms of the adjectives to use them accurately.
Adjectives that come after nouns - Mini quiz
Translate this sentence into French:
I have blonde hair.
J鈥檃i les cheveux blonds.
The adjective blonds (blonde) must go after the noun cheveux (hair).
Translate this sentence into French:
We visited an interesting town.
Nous avons visit茅 une ville 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟e.
The adjective 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟e (interesting) must go after the noun ville (town).
Adjectives that come before nouns
Some adjectives go before the noun. These are often referred to as the BAGS adjectives. BAGS stands for beauty, age, goodness and size.
| Beauty | Age | Goodness | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (beautiful) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (old) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (good) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (big) |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (pretty) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (new) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (bad) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (small) |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (young) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (big, large, lots of) |
For example:
J鈥檋abite dans un petit appartement. 鈥 I live in a small apartment.
Mon ami a chant茅 une nouvelle chanson. 鈥 My friend sang a new song.
Irregular spellings
Some of the BAGS adjectives have irregular spellings before masculine singular nouns that start with a vowel or silent 鈥榟鈥.
| English | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beautiful, handsome, nice (weather) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again., Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (before vowel or silent 鈥榟鈥) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Old | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again., Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (before vowel or silent 鈥榟鈥) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| New | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again., Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (before vowel or silent 鈥榟鈥) | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
For example:
Le vieil homme a un vieux chien. 鈥 The old man has an old dog.
Je joue beaucoup de nouveaux jeux sur mon nouvel ordinateur. 鈥 I play lots of new games on my new computer.
Irregular spellings - Mini quiz
Translate this sentence into French:
I saw a handsome man.
J鈥檃i vu un bel homme.
Homme (man) is a masculine noun that starts with a silent 鈥榟鈥, so use bel to mean 鈥榟andsome鈥.
Adjectives that come before and after nouns
Some adjectives change their meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun.
| French | English meaning before a noun | Example | English meaning after a noun | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | former | Il est mon ancien prof. 鈥 He is my former teacher. | very old | Ma m猫re a une voiture ancienne. 鈥 My mum has a very old car. |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | dear/beloved | On adore nos chers animaux. 鈥 We love our dear/beloved pets. | expensive | J鈥檃i achet茅 un tableau cher. 鈥 I bought an expensive painting. |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | weak/poor | Le pauvre enfant ! 鈥 The poor child! | poor (not rich) | Elle a donn茅 de l鈥檃rgent aux gens pauvres. 鈥 She gave money to poor people. |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | own | J鈥檃i ma propre chambre. 鈥 I have my own bedroom. | clean | Nous avons une cuisine propre. 鈥 We have a clean kitchen. |
Adjectives that come before and after nouns - Mini quiz
Translate into English:
Elle a une voiture propre.
She has a clean car.
When propre is after the noun, it means 鈥榗lean鈥.
Translate into English:
J鈥檃i vu mon ancien coll猫ge hier.
I saw my old (former) school yesterday.
When ancien is before the noun, it means 鈥榝ormer鈥.
Quiz - The position of adjectives
Practise what you've learned about the position of adjectives with this quiz.
Now you鈥檝e learned about position of adjectives in French, why not explore possessive adjectives in French?
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