Adjectives: Agreement and Position

A French adjective must agree with the noun it describes in two ways: gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). This gives up to four forms of the same word.

Gender / number	petit (small)	Example
masculine sing.	petit	un petit chien (a small dog)
feminine sing.	petite	une petite maison (a small house)
masculine plural	petits	des petits chiens
feminine plural	petites	des petites maisons

The default recipe is: add -e for feminine, add -s for plural, add -es for feminine plural. The rest of this lesson covers the endings that change this recipe and where the adjective sits in the sentence.

For most adjectives, the feminine adds -e and the plural adds -s. Two important "no change" cases save you from over-correcting.

Feminine — add -e, unless it already ends in -e:

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
grand	grande	big/tall
vert	verte	green
joli	jolie	pretty
rouge	rouge	red (no change)
jeune	jeune	young (no change)

Plural — add -s, unless it already ends in -s or -x:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
grand	grands	big/tall
bleu	bleus	blue
gris	gris	grey (no change)
heureux	heureux	happy (no change)

An adjective already ending in -e (like rouge or facile) has the same masculine and feminine form. One already ending in -s or -x (like gris or heureux) has the same singular and plural in the masculine.

Several endings do more than add -e. These patterns are tested constantly, so learn them as a set.

Ending change	Masculine → Feminine	Meaning
-x → -se	heureux → heureuse	happy
-f → -ve	sportif → sportive	sporty
-er → -ère	cher → chère	dear/expensive
-el → -elle	naturel → naturelle	natural
-en → -enne	ancien → ancienne	old/former
-on → -onne	bon → bonne	good

Worked examples in full phrases:

• un garçon sportif → une fille sportive (a sporty boy/girl)
• un bon élève → une bonne élève (a good pupil)
• un vieil ami italien → une amie italienne (an Italian friend)

Say the feminine aloud: the extra consonant is usually pronounced (heureuse, sportive), which is why the spelling doubles or changes.

A small group of very common adjectives is fully irregular. Three of them have a special form before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h.

Masculine	Before vowel/h	Feminine	Meaning
beau	bel	belle	beautiful
nouveau	nouvel	nouvelle	new
vieux	vieil	vieille	old

• un beau jardin, un bel homme, une belle maison
• un nouveau livre, un nouvel ami, une nouvelle voiture
• un vieux château, un vieil arbre, une vieille ville

Other useful irregulars: blanc → blanche (white), long → longue (long), gentil → gentille (kind), doux → douce (soft/gentle).

Plural changes mirror the noun rules: adjectives in -al become -aux and those in -eau become -eaux.

Singular	Masc. plural	Meaning
national	nationaux	national
principal	principaux	main
beau	beaux	beautiful
nouveau	nouveaux	new

Unlike English, most French adjectives come after the noun.

French	English
une voiture rouge	a red car
un livre intéressant	an interesting book
une histoire triste	a sad story

But a small, high-frequency group comes before the noun. Remember them with BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size.

Category	Adjectives that go before
Beauty	beau, joli
Age	jeune, vieux, nouveau
Goodness	bon, mauvais
Size	grand, petit, gros, long, haut

Examples: un petit chien (a small dog), une belle maison (a beautiful house), un bon repas (a good meal), une grande ville (a big city).

Some meanings always put the adjective after the noun, whatever else is going on.

Type	Example	English
Colour	des yeux bleus	blue eyes
Nationality	un drapeau français	a French flag
Shape	une table ronde	a round table

When a "before" adjective and an "after" adjective describe the same noun, each keeps its own place:

• une jolie voiture rouge — a pretty red car
• une grande maison confortable — a big, comfortable house

Colours from nouns, such as orange and marron (chestnut), are invariable: des chaussures marron (brown shoes), des murs orange (orange walls). They never add -e or -s.

Full agreement in a plural phrase pulls everything together: des grandes villes françaises (big French cities) — the "before" size adjective and the "after" nationality adjective both agree feminine plural.

1. Forgetting the feminine -e

A feminine noun needs a feminine adjective: une maison blanche, not une maison blanc. Add -e unless the adjective already ends in -e.

2. Over-adding -e to invariable endings

Adjectives ending in -e do not change for the feminine: un livre rouge and une porte rouge. Do not write rougee.

3. Using the wrong feminine pattern

Sportif becomes sportive (not sportife), heureux becomes heureuse (not heureuxe), and cher becomes chère. Learn the ending groups.

4. Putting BAGS adjectives after the noun

Un petit chien and une belle maison place the adjective before the noun. Writing un chien petit is wrong for this short set.

5. Making colours from nouns agree

Marron and orange never change: des yeux marron, not des yeux marrons. Ordinary colour adjectives, however, do agree: des yeux bleus.