French Grammar Explained /
Agreement of adjectives II
Let's talk again about adjectives! You remember the rules in French?
When the noun is feminine we add an -e, and when the noun is plural we add an -s at the end.
Correct! Let's take some of the most common adjectives in English - good, new, first, long, old. Take a look at the feminine and masculine forms and see what happens...
good ⇒ bon - bonne
new ⇒ nouveau - nouvelle
first ⇒ premier - première
long ⇒ long - longue
old ⇒ vieux - vieille
The feminine is more than adding a simple -e!
Très bien ! They have different endings:
Masculine | Feminine | Example |
-on | -onne | mignon - mignonne (cute) |
-eux | -euse | heureux - heureuse (happy) |
-eur | -euse | travailleur - travailleuse (hardworking) |
-teur | -trice | protecteur - protectrice (protective) |
-er | -ère | léger - légère (light) |
-et | -ète | discret - discrète (discret) |
-if | -ive | sportif - sportive (sporty) |
Hm... that's not very léger, is it? And what about longue and vieille?
Yes, you do have some peculiar ones:
gentil - gentille (nice)
franc - franche (frank)
long - longue (long)
vieux - vieille (old)
beau - belle (beautiful)
nouveau - nouvelle (new)
jaloux - jalouse (jealous)
doux - douce (soft)
Ugh... C'est long...
Don't worry, the more you use them, the easier it gets!