French adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun they describe. According to the general rule, you add an -e at the end of an adjective to get its feminine form, and an -s to get the plural form.
Ce bâtiment (m) est laid.
This building is ugly.
La photo (f) est laide.
This photo is ugly.
Que les gratte-ciels (m) sont hauts!
Skyscrapers are so tall!
Il y a beaucoup de montagnes (f) hautes dans les Alpes.
There are many tall mountains in the Alps.
Most adjectives are placed after the noun they describe:
Tu as un ticket valide pour le métro?
Do you have a valid ticket for the metro?
However, some common adjectives are placed before the noun they describe:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| good | bon | bonne |
| bad | mauvais | mauvaise |
| small | petit | petite |
| big | grand | grande |
| old | vieu | vielle |
| new | nouveau | nouvelle |
| young | jeune | jeune |
| pretty | joli | jolie |
| beautiful | beau | belle |
- When talking about languages, use the definite article le or l’ with the adjective:
I am studying French.
J’étudie le français.
Languages: le français, l’anglais, le chinois, l’espagnol, l’allemand, le russe, l’arabe, le portugais, le hindi.
- However, the definite article le or l’ is usually dropped with the verb parler:
He speak English fluently.
Il parle anglais couramment.
- Both languages / nationality adjectives and nouns are usually expressed with the same word. To talk about a person from that country, use an indefinite article un/une and a capital letter: e.g. un/une Russe (a Russian), un Allemand/une Allemande (a German) .