Les Adjectifs Descriptifs | moneportfolionora

Nora Lemtouni

Les Adjectifs Descriptifs

Formation:

In French adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and in number (singular/plural) with the nouns or pronouns they modify.

Ex. Elle a les cheveux longs et ondulés.

General rules for formation of descriptive adjectives:

The majority of adjectives follow a standard pattern of formation.

Masculine singular form + s = masculine plural form

Masculine singular form +e = feminine singular form

Masculine singular form+ es = feminine plural form

If the masculine singular form already ends in –e, the feminine singular form is the same.
If the masculine singular form already ends in –s, the masculine plural form is the same.

Variation of feminine forms:

Adjectives that end in –er and –f form the feminine using these patterns:

Endings:

Masculine Feminine

-er -ère

-f -ve

Adjectives that end in –x form the feminine several different ways. Since there is no pattern, the masculine and feminine forms should be learned together.

Masculine: Feminine:

heureux heureuse

faux fausse

doux douce

roux rousse

vieux vieille

Adjectives that end in –eur have several different feminine endings.
Most adjectives with the masculine singular ending –eur change to the feminine singular ending –euse:

Ex.Flatteur Flatteuse

Some frequently used exceptions to the pattern are:

extérieur/intérieur

supérieur/inférieur

majeur/mineur

meilleur/meilleure

Some adjectives with the masculine singular ending –teur change to the feminine singular ending –trice.

Ex. créateur/ créatrice

Many adjectives that have a masculine singular form ending in a vowel+ a consonant form the feminine by doubling the consonant before adding an –e.

Ex. bon/bonne

gentil/gentille

gras/grasse

pareil/pareille

Some adjectives that have a masculine singular form ending in –et add an accent and an –e instead of doubling the consonant.

Ex. complet/complète

discret/ discrète

Some frequently used adjectives that don’t follow a regular pattern for formation of the feminine.

Ex. blanc/blanche

favori/favorite

long/ longue

public/publique

sec/sèche

Variation of plural forms:

The majority of descriptive adjectives, including all of the irregular forms explained above, form the plural by adding –s to both the masculine and feminine singular forms. There are a few exceptions:
Adjectives that have the masculine singular ending –al form the masculine plural ending 2 different ways, while the feminine singular has only one pattern for plural formation.

Masculine Feminine

Singular: Singular:

normal normale

final finale

Masculine Feminine

Plural: Plural:

normaux normales

finals finales

There are 5 adjectives that use alternate masculine singular forms when they precede nouns that begin with a vowel or a mute –h. The feminine forms of these adjectives are derived from the alternate masculine singular forms. The masculine and feminine plural forms are not based on the alternate singular forms.

Masculine singular: Feminine singular:

beau (bel) belle

fou (fol) folle

mou (mol) molle

nouveau (nouvel) nouvelle

vieux (viel) vieille

Masculine plural: Feminine plural:

beaux belles

fous folles

mous molles

nouveaux nouvelles

vieux vieilles

Invariable adjective forms:

Some descriptive adjectives are invariable. This means that the same form of the word is used to modify all nouns, whether they are masculine, feminine, singular, plural, etc.
Some frequently used adjectives of color can be used as both nouns and adjectives: Bordeaux, cerise, marron, orange.
There are also a few adjectives that have no feminine form: snob (snobs).

Position:

Descriptive adjectives generally follow the noun that they modify.
Unless it is a B.A.G.S. adjective, in which case it precedes the noun.
There are also a few adjectives that change meaning depending on whether they precede or follow the noun.

Ex. Mon ancienne maison. (my former house)

Une maison ancienne . (an old house)

Mon cher ami. (my dear friend)

Une robe chère. (an expensive dress)