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Regular formation

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Spelling

Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:

• Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
  • un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante
  • un ami amusant --> une amie amusante
  • un camion lent --> une voiture lente
• Plural: add an -s to the singular form
  • un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants
  • une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes

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Pronunciation

Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule.

• Masculine Pronuciation: intéressan, amusan, len
• Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent

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Irregular formation

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Irregular plural formation

				Examples
M Sing.	-->	M. Pl.	Masc. Singular	-->	Masc. Plural	Notes
No change	-s		-s	un plafond bas un gros porc		des plafonds bas des gros porcs
	-x		-x	un homme généreux un garçon furieux		des hommes généreux des garçons furieux
	-z		-z	un gaz dangereux		des gaz dangereux
__x	-au	-	-aux	un journal	-	des journaux	Exceptions:landau (landaus), sarrau (sarraus)
	-eu|| -eux		un pieu	des pieux		Exceptions:bleu (bleus), pneu (pneus)
	-eau		-eaux	un château		des châteaux
	-al		-aux	un journal		des journaux	Exceptions:bal, cal, carnaval, chacal, festival, pal, récital et régal take an 's'
	-ou		-oux	un bijou		des bijoux	Notes:While most -ou adjectives have an s added in the plural form, seven are the exception. These are: un bijou (des bijoux, jewel), un caillou (des cailloux, stone)), un pou (des poux, louse), un joujou (des joujoux, toy ), un chou (des choux, cabbage), un hibou (des hiboux, owl), un genou (des genoux, knee)

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Irregular feminine formation

				Examples
Masc.	-->	Fem.	Masculine	-->	Feminine	Notes
No change	-e	rowspan = 11 |	-e	égoïste, populaire, sociable, timide, énergique, dynamique, sympathique			* When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is no change. * The final consonant is pronounced on the masc. form.
rowspan=6| Final Consonant Doubled	-el	-elle	cruel		cruelle	When an adjective has one of these endings, the ending of the feminine form is doubled. There is no change of pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle and -il to -ille. -on is pronounced ohhn and -onne is pronounced uhhne. -en is pronounced euhn and -enne is pronounced ehne. -os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced ohse. -as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced ahse.
-il	-ille	gentil	gentille
-on	-onne	bon breton	bonne bretonne
-en	-enne	ancien parisien	ancienne parisienne
-os	-osse	gros	grosse
-as	-asse	bas	basse
-eux change	-eux	-euse	furieux généreux		furieuse généreuse	-eux is pronounced euhh and -euse is pronounced euhsse.
-if change	-if	-ive	sportif actif		sportive active
er change	-er	-ère	étranger cher		étrangère chère	-er is pronounced ay and -ère is pronounced air.
-et change	-et	-ète	inquiet complet		inquiète complète	-et is pronounced ay and -ète is pronounced ette.

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Special rules

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Adjectives that precede nouns

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List

Adjectives that are used frequently go before nouns. These are:

• beau (belle)
• joli(e)
• nouveau (nouvelle)
• vieux (vielle)
• jeune +
• bon(ne) +
• gentil (gentille)
• mauvais(e)
• vilain(e)
• grand(e) +
• petit(e)
• court(e)
• long(ue)
• gros(se) +
• large
• haut(e)
• affreux (affreuse)
• dernier (dernière) +
• méchant(e) +
• meilleur(e)
• pauvre +
• premier (première) +
• vrai(e) +

+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning

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Changes in meaning

When grand goes before a noun, it means great. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall. Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means financially poor. This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even when used before the nouns. Edit

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

Masc. Sing. Cons.	Masc. Sing Vowel	Masc. Plural	Fem. Sing. (all)	Fem. Plural
Beau	un beau garçon	un bel individu	des beaux garçons	une belle fillette	des belles fillettes
Nouveau	un nouveau camion	un nouvel ordre	des nouveaux ordres	une nouvelle idée	des nouvelles idées
Vieux	un vieux camion	un vieil ordre	des vieux camions	une vieille idée	des vieilles idées

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Possessive adjectives

In English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the possessive adjective but the object owned.

First person singular - mon, ma, mes
Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes
Third person singular - son, sa, ses


First person plural - notre, notre, nos
Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos
Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs


Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vocal you should utilize "Mon" instead of "Ma". Example: Mon ami = ok Ma amie = error! Mon amie = ok.